Hardy brings more than 30 years of technical and operational experience in the mining industry. He first started with Newmont in 2002, and has since held several roles including managing director of Africa, general manager of the Tanami mine in Australia, and most recently, SVP of exploration.

Before joining Newmont, he held executive positions at Avmin Ltd. and De Beers Consolidated Mines.

Hardy will take over from interim CTO Dean Gehring, who currently also serves as Newmont’s EVP and chief integration officer but will be leaving the company in July. The CTO role was previously held by Aaron Puna, former chief executive of Anglo American Chile.

“Francois is a strong leader with deep technical experience and a demonstrable track record of improving operating performance. His appointment will further strengthen Newmont’s executive leadership team, adding valuable technological expertise which will be central to our ongoing success as a business,” Newmont CEO Tom Palmer said in a news release.

Hardy graduated from the Technikon Witwatersrand (now University of Johannesburg) with a BSc in Mine Engineering and received his National Higher Diploma in Metalliferous Mining from the University of Johannesburg.