Kidnapped mining executive Gernot Wober back in Canada

After being kidnapped and held captive for seven months in Colombia, Canadian mining executive Gernot Wober returned to Canada late Thursday.

“It’s the grand finale. It’s the final touch that he’s actually home, he’s with his family and we’ll be seeing him really soon,” his father, Helmut Wober, said in an interview Friday.

So far he and his wife have only had a few rushed phone conversations with their son, the vice-president of exploration for Braeval Mining Corp., since he was released by his captors earlier this week. But over the weekend they’ll travel from their home near Vancouver to Toronto, where Wober has already reunited with his wife.

“He’s got a lot to tell that he can’t do in a short telephone conversation,” his father said. “He immediately had to go to his office and to do other things. He hasn’t got any rest yet.”

Wober, 47, was released into a rural area on Tuesday to humanitarian workers. He was kidnapped in January, along with several South American workers, by rebels from the National Liberation Army, known by its Spanish acronym ELN. The rebels demanded his company halt gold exploration plans, claiming the land involved had been stolen from its owners.

The case is part of a larger battle between rebels and the Colombian government over mining rights. Braeval made a “business decision” to pull out of Colombia last month.

After Wober was released into the Southern Bolivar region, he was flown to safety by a Red Cross helicopter and later taken to Colombia’s capital, Bogota.

He passed medical checks there, although he was left with sores on his feet from extensive walking and living in a jungle, said spokesman Chris Eby of communications firm Navigator.

“We are greatly relieved that Gernot is safe, healthy and back home with his family, friends and colleagues,” Eby said in an email, thanking those “who have assisted and supported us throughout this situation.”

The federal government won’t comment on “efforts to secure the hostage’s release.” But officials were in regular contact with Wober’s family, said Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Chrystiane Roy.

Before beginning work in Toronto for Braeval about a year and a half ago, Wober had been stationed in Alaska, and previously worked in remote areas including in Africa and Northern Canada. He now lives in the Toronto area and has three children, Eby said.

Braeval completed its initial public offering last December, only a month before Wober was captured.

He grew up in British Columbia and studied geology at UBC, following in the footsteps of his father, also a mining engineer and geologist.

Helmut Wober, 76, said that although he’s only talked to his son briefly, he’s optimistic about his health.

“Everybody that met him reported that he’s in surprisingly strong and good spirits.”

But Wober has “lost a lot of weight.”

“He’ll recover and build up again — he said he hopes not too fast and not all of it,” his father said, chuckling.