Harena Resources (HREE) has appointed Ivan Murphy as executive chairman, effective from 1st October 2025.
In his current role as non-executive chairman, Murphy has led the company's recent financial restructuring and strategic repositioning. It is now on the cusp of developing its Ampasindava rare earths project in Madagascar.
Murphy’s move will allow executive technical director, Alan Mulligan, to dedicate his efforts to the forthcoming licence submission and the technical and environmental programmes required as the Ampasindava project advances towards production.
As executive chairman, Murphy will continue to focus on strengthening Harena’s engagement with existing and prospective stakeholders in the United States as well as on advancing the company's strategy to access U.S. capital markets.
As part of this strategy, and as announced on 16 September 2025, the company has commenced the process to publicly cross-trade on the OTCQB Venture market.
Harena also hinted that further executive appointments were likely.
"I look forward to transitioning to the role of executive chairman of Harena having had such a long-standing relationship with the Ampasindava project,” Murphy said.
“In addition, I look forward to working closely with the board as we advance the Ampasindava project towards production. With a 600,000-tonne ionic clay, free-dig, magnet metal heavy rare earth resource, Harena offers a unique and strategic opportunity at a time when mineral security is increasingly prioritised across the U.S. and the western world."
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Murphy’s appointment as executive chairman is a natural next step for Harena. In many respects he was already fulfilling the role of executive in any case, representing the company in high level talks with both the Madagascan government and officials in the US administration. His experience with Ampasindava, and his obvious enthusiasm for the project make him ideal for the role.