Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HAR), Africa’s third-largest producer of the metal, announced Chief Executive Officer Graham Briggs will keep his job for another four years.

Briggs, 59, would have retired within the next year under the company’s normal policy, Johannesburg-based Harmony said in a statement today. It also named Tom Smith as chief operating officer for South Africa. He was COO of the south region.

Briggs, CEO since 2008, continued predecessor Bernard Swanepoel’s efforts to close less-profitable shafts in South Africa and expand abroad. Harmony has gained 7 percent since the start of 2008 in Johannesburg, compared with a 1.9 percent drop in the five-member FTSE/JSE Africa Gold Mining Index.

The CEO “is doing outstanding work in Papua New Guinea,” Chairman Patrice Motsepe said in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carli Cooke in Johannesburg at clourens@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net