Aureka (ASX:AKA) has appointed Zane Smith as chief operating officer, effective 17 August 2026, to lead the Comstock Gold and Silver Project into production.
Smith brings extensive mine operational experience across Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, and the Northern Territory, with particular expertise in Victorian regulatory approvals and the Stawell Gold Corridor.
Managing Director James Gurry says the appointment is timely for the company’s next phase of development.
“This is the appropriate time to appoint a COO with the requisite engineering, project delivery, Victorian regulatory approvals, and operational mine experience. Zane’s appointment will drive our projects to the next stage, including initial development and production,” Gurry mentions.
Smith started his mining career at Stawell Gold Mines, progressing through operational and technical roles across multiple underground operations. He has led multidisciplinary teams and overseen underground mining, production crews, and contractors.
At Stawell, he was involved in the discovery of economic mineralisation on the eastern side of the Magdala Basalt. Aureka says the experience is directly relevant to its 2025 discovery on both sides of the Irvine Basalt. Smith also played a key role in the 2019 restart of Stawell operations.
As Project Manager for Major Infrastructure at GWMWater, Smith led the delivery of more than $200 million in capital infrastructure programs across regional Victoria.
Smith will be responsible for advancing the Comstock Project into production with available capital resources. He will also oversee initial studies for the Irvine Gold Project and serve as the point of contact for Aureka’s toll milling partnership with Core Prospecting.
Aureka says Smith’s incentives are focused on successful delivery of safe, profitable production at Comstock.
Aureka’s exploration team remains focused on delivering mineralisation growth to 1 million ounces, following 50% growth in JORC mineralisation to 455,000 ounces.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Aureka
