Upheaval at firm behind battery plans
A KEY player in Townsville’s proposed $3 billion battery manufacturing plant has lost two managing directors in four weeks.
But sources tell the Townsville Bulletin the changes in personnel at listed company Magnis Energy Technologies are no cause for concern.
The man appointed to oversee the growth of the company about 18 months ago, project veteran Marc Vogts, announced his immediate retirement on January 31.
This week, the man appointed interim managing director, Leslie Hosking, resigned with immediate effect. The company said Mr Vogts had decided to retire from active business.
“I have had a long illustrious career and while I have really enjoyed my time at
Magnis, the time to retire feels right at this point in time,” Mr Vogts said in a statement.
“As the managing director and a large shareholder, I’m confident and excited to see what 2020 brings for Magnis and I leave the company in capable hands.”
In a statement, the board of Magnis wished Mr Hosking well in his future endeavours and said the firm was in the process of finalising a review of its corporate governance and committee structures.
Mr Vogts has been a project executive for 40 years running multi-billion-dollar projects.
He was previously project director at the QMM Project in Madagascar for Rio Tinto, vice-president for project management at BHP Billiton and vice-president for uranium projects, including for the Olympic Dam mine, at BHP Billiton.
Mr Vogts told the Townsville Bulletin last year they aimed to begin a staged development of the battery plant at the Townsville City Councilheld Lansdown site near Woodstock by the middle of this year.
A spokesman for Magnis or one of its partners in the Townsville project, the Boston group, could not be contacted for comment.