The president of Vancouver investment management house Phillips, Hager & North is to head a combined asset management business when it is bought by the Royal Bank of Canada (TSX, NYSE:RY). The deal will close around the end of April. John Montalbano will become CEO when PH&N is folded into RBC Wealth Management. Brenda Vince, current president of RBC Asset Management, will lead the combined mutual fund and high net-worth businesses. Dan Chornous, currently CIO of RBC Asset Management, will become the CIO of the combined entity, while PH&N's Hanif Mamdani will be head of alternative investments. PH&N was founded in 1964 and has about $69 billion of assets under management. RBC Wealth Management has nearly $500 billion of assets under administration.
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* StrataGold Corp. (TSX:SGV) has promoted Mark Ayranto to VP of corporate development. He was previously VP of environment and community affairs. The Vancouver-based gold development company is focused on two advanced-stage gold projects and a venture with Newmont.
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* Northern Hemisphere Development Corp. (TSXV:NHD) has promoted Don Simmons, P.Geol, to president and CEO. Simmons had served as the company's VP of exploration since 2007. Northern Hemisphere is focused on the development of the Bougie Trutch and Trutch East projects in northeastern BC. Its head office is in Vancouver.
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* Fortress Minerals Corp. (TSXV:FST) of Vancouver has appointed Igor Gladkov as VP Russia. Most recently, Gladkov owned and managed a copper, zinc, gold mine in the CIS. Fortress is a base- and precious-metal exploration company focused on Russia, Mongolia and Nicaragua.
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* Crosshair Exploration & Mining Corp. (TSX:CXX, AMEX:CXZ) has appointed Paul Hosford, P.Eng., as president and chief operating officer. Hosford previously had a management role with Barrick Gold Corp. He will take over the day to day operations from Mark Morabito, who will remain as CEO focusing on Crosshair's corporate growth strategies. Crosshair is a player in the exploration for uranium in the Central Mineral Belt of Labrador.
Its head office is in Vancouver.
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* SNS Silver Corp. (TSXV:SNS) has promoted Thomas Fudge to president and CEO. Fudge, the company's former vice-president of operations, replaces Neil Linder who is stepping down at the request of the board and has also resigned as a director. Fudge is a mining engineer who previously was president of Concentric Energy Corp. SNS is a Vancouver-based mining company whose primary asset is the 100-per-cent owned Crescent Mine in Idaho.
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* Thomas Bagan has joined Oro Silver Resources Ltd. (TSXV:OSR) as VP of operations and COO. Prior to joining Oro Silver, Bagan was the director of project development for Yamana Gold Inc. Oro is a new silver exploration company focused on Mexico. It is headquartered in Vancouver.
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* Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. (TSX:PTQ) has appointed Bassam Moubarak to the position of CFO, replacing interim CFO Tony Ricci. Ricci will continue in an advisory capacity during the transition. Moubarak previously held the position of senior manager with Deloitte & Touche. Petaquilla is an emerging gold producer with head office in Vancouver.
- with files from The Canadian Press