Petra Diamonds Ltd.
PDL:LN
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Overview
Company Profile
Petra is a leading independent diamond mining group and an increasingly important supplier of rough diamonds to the international market.
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Financials
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Corporate
Board of Directors
Adonis Pouroulis
Non-Executive Chairman
Mr. Pouroulis leads the Board of Directors and works with the Executive Directors on strategy and other matters. He graduated from the University of Witswatersrand, South Africa, with a degree in mining engineering. He is a mining entrepreneur whose expertise lies in the discovery and exploration of natural resources across Africa, including diamonds, precious/base metals, coal and oil and gas, and bringing these assets into production. Mr Pouroulis founded the Company in 1997 and it became the first diamond company to float on AIM. He has since chaired the Company as it has developed into a mid-tier diamond producer of global significance and London’s largest quoted diamond mining group. Mr. Pouroulis is a non-executive director of Chariot Oil & Gas plc.
Johan Dippenaar
Chief Executive
Mr. Dippenaar leads the management of the Company, implements the agreed strategy and runs the business on a day-to-day basis. He is a Chartered Accountant with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Mr. Dippenaar has over 25 years’ experience in the leadership and management of diamond mining companies. Prior to his appointment as CEO of the Company, he was CEO of ASX quoted Crown Diamonds which merged with the Company in 2005. Since the merger, Mr. Dippenaar has led the Company through a period of significant growth, taking the Company’s annual production from approximately 175,000 carats in FY 2006 to 3.1 million carats in FY 2014, and establishing the Company as a leading independent producer.
David Abery
Finance Director
Mr. Abery leads the financial management of the Company and is responsible for financing, treasury, financial controls, reporting, legal, investor relations, compliance and corporate governance. He is a Chartered Accountant with ICAEW. Mr. Abery has over 17 years’ experience as a chief financial officer in both the South African and U.K. business environments. He has been integral to the structuring and delivery of strategic group corporate development and acquisitions at the Company, as well as the instigation of a number of innovative financing transactions. Mr. Abery is responsible for all matters pertaining to the Company’s U.K. listing.
Jim Davidson
Technical Director
Mr. Davidson leads the technical management team and is responsible for the direction and implementation of the Company’s technical and exploration programmes. He is a geologist and a member of the Geological Society of South Africa and registered with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions. He is an acknowledged world authority on kimberlite geology and exploration, as well as an expert on the optimal recovery of diamonds through plant processes and other automated methods. He has spent over 40 years associated with diamond exploration and mining, of which over 25 years have included mine management in South Africa, and was formerly head of diamond exploration in southern Africa for BP Minerals (subsequently Rio Tinto) before co-founding Crown Diamonds.
Tony Lowrie
Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Mr. Lowrie received a Royal Commission from the Sandhurst Military Academy. He has over 36 years’ association with the equities business and is an experienced non-executive director. He has had a lengthy and distinguished career, which included senior positions with the Hoare Govett group and HG Asia Securities. Between 1996 and 2004 he was chairman for ABN AMRO Asia Securities and was formerly lso a managing director of ABN AMRO Bank. He has been a non-executive director of Allied Gold Mining Plc, Dragon Oil plc, J. D. Wetherspoon plc, as well as several quoted Asian closed end funds. He is a director of the Edinburgh Dragon Fund and a non-executive director of Kenmare Resources plc.
Dr Pat Bartlett
Independent Non-Executive Director
Dr. Bartlett is a member of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a registered Professional Natural Scientist. He was formerly chief geologist for De Beers until his retirement in 2003 and is an acknowledged leading expert on kimberlite geology and block caving. Dr Bartlett has extensive experience working across southern Africa and has an in-depth knowledge of several of the mines acquired by the Company, having previously worked at Finsch, Koffiefontein, Kimberley Underground and Cullinan. Since retiring from De Beers, he has consulted on block caving projects for BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Rio Tinto. He is a director of the board of trustees of the De Beers Benefit Society and the De Beers Pension Fund.
Gordon Hamilton
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mr. Hamilton is an FCA qualified chartered accountant with ICAEW. He retired from Deloitte & Touche LLP in 2006 after more than 30 years as a partner primarily responsible for multinational and FTSE 350 company audits, mainly in the mining, oil and gas, and aerospace and defence industries, as well as heading the Deloitte South Africa desk in London. He served for nine years until 2011 as a member of the U.K. Financial Reporting Review Panel. Mr. Hamilton has extensive experience as a non-executive director across a wide range of businesses. He is non-executive director of Barloworld Limited, Nedbank Private Wealth Limited and other related companies within the Nedbank Group, and Atrium Underwriting Group Limited, a Lloyd’s of London insurance underwriter
Octavia Matloa
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mrs Matloa is a chartered accountant who completed her articles with PwC in South Africa in 2000 before joining the Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works, first as deputy chief financial officer, followed by chief director management accountant. Since this time, Mrs Matloa has founded a number of businesses, including Tsidkenu Chartered Accountants Inc and Mukundi Mining Resources. She brings broad business, financial and auditing experience to the Board.