Barrick Gold CFO Catherine Raw is taking over management of the company’s U.S. operations as of Jan. 1, when Barrick U.S.A. president Michael Brown retires.

Raw will assume the newly created position of chief operating officer for North America, Barrick said Thursday. 

Brown joined Barrick in 1994 as vice-president of government affairs and became president of Barrick’s U.S. operations in 2015.

“It has been my honour to represent this great company since 1994, and to lead the industry on so many issues over the years,” Brown said in a statement. “I look forward to supporting a smooth transition as Catherine takes on her new position. I will think about act three of my life when that is completed.”

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Brown is credited with helping to established Barrick in Nevada, starting with the Barrick Global Shared Services Center in Henderson in 2015.

“Michael has worked tirelessly to connect Nevada’s mining industry with government, communities and organizations across the state, always with an emphasis on building mutually-beneficial, long-term partnerships,” John Thornton, Barrick’s executive chairman, said in a statement.

Raw joined Barrick in 2015 as the executive vice-president of business performance, before being named CFO and executive vice-president in April 2016. She came to Barrick from global investment management firm Blackrock, where she was co-manager of the company’s flagship mining funds. She also previously worked with Anglo American.

Raw has a master of natural sciences from the University of Cambridge’s Downing College, a master of science in mineral project appraisal from Imperial College London, and a chartered financial analyst designation.