Vedanta Resources Limited has appointed Christopher Sheppard as the new Konkola Copper Mines Plc (KCM) chief executive officer effective March 18, 2019, to be based at KCM’s head office in Chingola.

In a statement availed by KCM’s corporate affairs general manager Eugene Chungu, Thursday, Vedanta Group chief executive officer Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan announced Sheppard’s appointment, who is now expected to drive all of KCM’s strategic business priorities across safety, environment, community, sustainability, people practices and ethics, among other key areas of the company.

“Chris will provide leadership in delivering KCM’s vision of over 50 years of sustainable mining and operations in Zambia,” stated Venkatakrishnan.

Sheppard holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Mining, which he obtained from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and has attended, among others, an Advanced Management programme at Harvard School of Business, bringing with him 35 years of contracting and mining experience.

His previous leadership roles were with Anglo American, Anglo Platinum, Lonmin Platinum, and Murray and Roberts Cementation.

Prior to joining Vedanta, he was the chief operating officer at AngloGold Ashanti Limited in South Africa.

Sheppard took over from predecessor Venkatesan Giridhar, who had been acting KCM chief executive, with the latter now continuing in his role as chief financial officer assisting Sheppard and the entire leadership team, according to Chungu.

Vedanta Plc, which de-listed from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) last October, still holds a 79.4 per cent stake in KCM, leaving the remaining 20.6 per cent owned by ZCCM-IH.