Newcrest appoints first local as mine manager

ISO Ealedona, pictured, has been appointed mine manager at Lihir Gold Limited.
Ealedona is the first Papua New Guinean appointed to an operations managerial role at Lihir.
From Misima in Milne Bay, Ealedona is a mining engineer with more than 22 years of experience in the industry here and abroad.
His appointment marks an important milestone in Newcrest’s commitment to increase participation from the communities in which Newcrest operates, to build local skills and support community development.
Newcrest’s mining executive general manager Lihir and Cadia, Craig Jetson, said he was confident that under Ealedona’s capable leadership, mine operations would continue to improve and deliver outstanding results.
Ealedona started his career as a mining engineer with Placer Niugini at its Misima mine before moving to Lihir Gold with the Lihir Management Company under the Rio Tinto group in 1996.
He was the first and youngest Papua New Guinean operations superintendent during the early years of Lihir.
For career development and opportunities for his young family, he was transferred on secondment in 2003 to work with Rio Tinto’s Hamersley Iron operations in Western Australia.
Ealedona re-joined the Lihir team in February 2015 as a superintendent in the mine operations team. He became deputy mine manager last November.
He had been exposed to every aspect of the mining industry, having worked in senior mine operations, planning and leadership roles with Ok Tedi Mining, Morobe Mining Joint Venture and Misima Mines.
Ealedona said he was proud and humbled to be part of the leadership transformation at Lihir.