Johannesburg, 27 September 2016 – DRA Group Holdings has today announced the appointment of Wray Carvelas as CEO, with immediate effect.
Tim Netscher, Chairman of DRA, says that the DRA board went through an extensive recruitment process interviewing high calibre internal and external candidates.
“Wray was the outstanding candidate for the role,” says Netscher, “this is evident in his considerable experience in both business and engineering, with a strong track record of success throughout his career.”
Carvelas has been with DRA for 15 years, joining the company in 2001. Carvelas previously held the role of Projects Director and was appointed as CEO of DRA’s Americas operations in 2011. He also holds an MBA cum laude from the University of Stellenbosch.
“In addition to his impressive career, Wray also embodies DRA’s values with his unwavering conviction and commitment,” Netscher says.
Carvelas replaces Andrew Naudé who acted as interim CEO from May 2016, in addition to his role as Chief Financial Officer and Strategy Director.
“We thank Andrew for his excellent leadership over the last three months,” says Netscher, “together with the Global Executive Committee, he has ensured that our organisation continued to move forward both strategically and operationally.”
Naudé will continue to work with Carvelas and the DRA Group Executive Committee in the next few months to ensure a smooth transition.
Carvelas assumes the role as Group CEO effective 1 October 2016 and he will officially be appointed to the DRA Board in November 2016.
He will be embarking on a global roadshow over the coming weeks to formally introduce himself to DRA’s teams and clients in all regions.
Netscher concludes, “The Board and Group Executive Committee are confident that DRA has the appropriate leadership to drive its success going forward.”
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About DRA
DRA is a multi-disciplinary global engineering group that originated in South Africa and delivers mining, mineral processing, energy, water treatment and infrastructure services from concept to commissioning, as well as comprehensive operations and maintenance services for the mineral resources and energy sectors. DRA has offices in Africa, Australia, Canada, China, India and the United States.
About Wray Carvelas
Wray joined DRA in 2001 and became the CEO of DRA Americas at the beginning of 2011. He has over 25 years of experience in gold, copper, diamonds, iron ore, nickel and platinum. Before moving to North America, Wray was DRA’s Director of Projects for Africa, managing a project portfolio valued at between four and five billion dollars. Wray has significant experience in operations management and project delivery and is particularly skilled in fast-tracking large scale projects.
Since 2011, Wray has been focused on in growing DRA’s business in the Americas, both organically as well as through acquisition. In 2014, under Wray’s leadership, DRA Americas acquired Taggart Global giving the company a strong projects and operations business in the United States. In 2016 the company acquired Met-Chem which provides DRA Americas with an experienced mining and geology team as well as French-speaking professional engineers and a base in Montreal from which to service Quebec clients and projects in Francophone Africa.
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Tarryn Fraser
Corporate Communications
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