Up 298% in a year, ASX All Ords gold share welcomes new CEO

The All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.3% today, with ASX All Ords gold share Wia Gold Ltd (ASX: WIA) trading just about flat.

Shares in the African focused gold miner closed yesterday trading for 47 cents. In morning trade on Thursday, shares are changing hands for, well, 47 cents apiece.

This leaves the Wia Gold share price up a stellar 291.7% since this time last year, smashing the 12-month 8.1% gains posted by the benchmark index.

Part of that meteoric rise has been driven by the surging gold price. One ounce of gold is currently trading for US$4,627. This puts the gold price up 72% over 12 months.

Investors have also been bidding up the ASX All Ords gold share amid the promising growth potential at its Namibian and Cote d’Ivoire projects, including its Kokoseb gold discovery in Namibia.

Here’s what’s happening today.

ASX All Ords gold share under new leadership

The Wia Gold share price is stable at time of writing after the miner announced the appointment of Henk Diederichs as managing director and CEO. He will take over the reins on 1 February.

Diederichs is an engineer with more than 20 years of experience in the mining industry and has worked across various African jurisdictions. He is currently the chief operating officer of ASX All Ords gold share Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX: PDI).

Predictive Discovery is advancing its Bankan Gold Project, located in Guinea, where Diederichs was said to have played a “pivotal role” in progressing Bankan through its Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).

Prior to this, Diederichs served as the CEO of OreCorp Limited, helping drive the advancement of the Nyanzaga Gold Project, located in Tanzania. OreCorp was acquired by Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX: PRU) in April 2024.

What did management say?

Commenting on the leadership shakeup for the ASX All Ords gold share, Wia Gold chairman Josef El-Raghy said:

His appointment marks a milestone for the company as we accelerate Wia’s transition from exploration to development, by progressing Kokoseb through the Definitive Feasibility Study phase, following the completion of the Scoping Study in September 2025.

Henk brings extensive leadership experience and a proven track record in successfully advancing resource projects through feasibility, development and into production, particularly across Africa.

Incoming managing director and CEO Diederichs said, “I am excited to lead the development and construction of Kokoseb, one of Africa’s most promising and robust gold mining projects.”

Diederichs added:

With the significant progress achieved to date and key milestones ahead, including the completion of the DFS and securing the necessary permits to bring Kokoseb into production, I look forward to building a strong development and operations team in Namibia to deliver a highly value accretive project that benefits all our stakeholders.

The post Up 298% in a year, ASX All Ords gold share welcomes new CEO appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.