Deshnee Naidoo, CEO, Vedanta Zinc International

 TOPIC: Unlocking South Africa’s Northern Cape Zinc Potential

Deshnee Naidoo was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Zinc International and Copper Mines of Tasmania in February 2015. Deshnee has over 22 years of experience in the resources industry across multiple commodities including platinum, thermal coal, manganese and base metals. Her tenure at VZI includes the approval, project execution and construction, commissioning and current ramp-up of the Gamsberg Project, the life extension of Black Mountain Mining and Skorpion Zinc and the safe closure of Lisheen. In addition, Deshnee was appointed Africa Base Metals CEO from May 2018 to November 2018 where her portfolio included Konkola Copper Mines.

Deshnee was awarded the JCI/Anglo Platinum bursary in 1994 to study for a BSc (Chemical Engineering) degree at the University of Natal (Durban). In addition, she holds Certification in Finance and Accounting from University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Her career began at Anglo American in 1998 where she joined as a trainee metallurgist at the Precious Metals Refinery. She held various roles over a 15-year span at the company up to Chief Financial Officer - Thermal Coal in which her responsibilities entailed management of two commodities (thermal coal and manganese) across three regions (South Africa, South America and Australia). 

Deshnee is a Board member on the Minerals Council of South Africa where she plays a role to resolve pertinent issues to the mining, business and social sectors.