Broad commercial expertise and extensive industry experience.
Executive Chairman
Qualifications: Mining and Metallurgical Engineering (Hons), (National Technical University, Athens, Greece)
Committees: Risk; Nomination; New Business; Climate Change and Sustainability
Loucas Pouroulis is the Executive Chairman of the Group, with the responsibility of developing strategy and identifying new opportunities for the Group. He began his career in Cyprus in 1962, and his initial postgraduate training took place in Germany, Sweden and Cyprus. Loucas is trained as a mining and metallurgical engineer and has more than 50 years’ experience in mining exploration, project management, financing and production in open-pit and underground mining operations, including PGM and gold mines. He immigrated to South Africa in 1964 and then joined Anglo American, where he rose rapidly through the management ranks and received extensive training and experience. In 1971, Loucas began to pursue his own mining interests, initially focusing on gold mining opportunities that were considered uneconomical by the majors. By the 1990s, he had established Petra Diamonds and, since 2000, has established Eland Platinum, Tharisa, Kameni, Keaton Energy, Salene Chrome and the Karo Mining Group.
Chief Executive Officer
Qualifications: Bachelor of Science and Business Administration, (Boston University, USA)
Committees: Audit (By invitation); Nomination (By invitation); Remuneration (By invitation); Safety, Health and Environment (By invitation); Risk; Social and Ethics; New Business; Climate Change and Sustainability
Phoevos Pouroulis is the Chief Executive Officer of the Group, with responsibility for overall strategy and management. Phoevos has held various senior managerial and operational positions in his career spanning more than 20 years. He has extensive experience in project management, mining design, commissioning and mining operations, including coal, chrome and PGM mines, having been involved in South Africa’s mining industry since 2003. He has served as Commercial Director for Chromex Mining and was a founding member of Keaton Energy. Phoevos currently serves on the board of the World Platinum Investment Council.
Chief Finance Officer
Qualifications: Bachelor of Accounting, (University of Kwa-Zulu Natal Pietermaritzburg, South Africa), CA(SA); Member, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants
Committees: Audit (By invitation); Risk; Remuneration (By invitation); New Business (By invitation); Climate Change and Sustainability
Michael Jones is the Chief Finance Officer of the Group and is responsible for the overall financial operation, funding and financial reporting management of the Group. Michael has more than 12 years’ executive financial management experience in the mining sector. In addition, he has over 20 years’ experience in investment banking, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising of both equity and debt.
Qualifications: MA Natural Sciences (University of Cambridge), Ph.D. Archaeology (University College London)
Committees: Audit; Risk; Nomination; Remuneration; Safety, Health and Environment; Social and Ethics; New Business; Climate Change and Sustainability(Chairman)
Carol Bell has more than 40 years’ experience in the energy and allied industries, including a successful career as a Managing Director of Chase Manhattan Bank’s Global Oil & Gas Group, Head of European Equity Research at JP Morgan and several years as an equity research analyst in the oil and gas sector at Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS Phillips & Drew. Carol began her career in corporate planning and business development at Charterhouse Petroleum and RTZ Oil and Gas. She has broad public company experience and currently serves on the Bonheur board and is also a non-executive director of the BlackRock Energy and Resources Income Trust. Carol also serves on the Board of the Development Bank of Wales and The Football Association of Wales and is one of the founder-directors of Chapter Zero, a network for non-executive directors to engage with climate risk. She is also Vice-President of the National Museum of Wales, Vice-Chair of the Wales Millennium Centre, Senior Independent Director of the National Physical Laboratory and Treasurer of the Institute for Archaeo-metallurgical Studies.
Qualifications: Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Committees: Audit (By invitation); Risk; Remuneration (By invitation); New Business(By invitation); Social and Ethics; Climate Change and Sustainability
Antonios Djakouris is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has over 30 years’ experience as a manager and director, having served in the accounting profession and in a number of posts with the Bank of Cyprus, including internal audit, credit review and retail banking, and as Group General Manager in charge of operations. From 2003 to 2009, he directed the Bank of Cyprus group’s overseas operations, including banks in the United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, Romania and Ukraine. Antonios currently serves in an honorary capacity on the Board and Executive Committee of the Cyprus Anti-Cancer Society, one of the largest charities in Cyprus.
Qualifications: Bachelor in Economics and Political Science, Ph.D. in Management (Banking and Finance)
Committees: Audit; Risk; Social and Ethics; Climate Change and Sustainability
Omar Kamal has more than 28 years’ international experience in banking, investment management, strategic advisory services and high-growth entrepreneurship. He has served at high-growth companies and multibillion-dollar corporates in various executive capacities. Until August 2015, he was the co-Group CEO of a business group owned by a prominent family with global reach based in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to that, he was one of the initial founders and acted as the CIO of a regional bank in the Middle East and, before that, was a partner with Ernst & Young on the advisory and consulting side. Omar continues to serve on the boards of a number of listed and unlisted companies, among others, Cambridge Scientific Innovation (”CSI”), Cybsafe, Crowdemotion, Quiqup and Arab Bank Switzerland as Chairman of the Fintech Committee. In the same context, Omar makes a personal strategic contribution toward digital innovation and transformation. Omar is a member of the Young President Organisation (”YPO”) and a Learning Chair of the London Stars Chapter in the UK.
Qualifications: Bachelor of Science (Hons), Ph.D. in Mineral Technology (Imperial College, London), FSAIMM
Committees: Audit; Risk; Nomination (Chairman); Remuneration; Safety, Health and Environment (Chairman); Social and Ethics (Chairman); New Business; Climate Change and Sustainability
David Salter has more than 30 years’ experience in developing and managing mining companies, including open pit and underground PGM mining operations. David’s most recent public company roles were Chairman of Keaton Energy until its sale to Wescoal in 2017 and Managing Director of Eland Platinum until its sale to Xstrata in 2007. He serves on the board of Sirius Finance (Cyprus) Limited and is a non-executive director of a number of unlisted companies in the mining, property and agricultural sectors.
Independent Non-Executive Director
Qualifications: MSc Mineral Production Management (Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London), MSc Water Resource Management and Water Environment (Bournemouth University)
Committees: Risk; Remuneration; Safety, Health and Environment; New Business (Chairman); Climate Change and Sustainability
Roger Davey, a British national, has more than 40 years’ operational experience at senior management and director level in the mining industry in South America, Africa and Europe. His experience at senior management level includes financing, feasibility studies, construction, development, commissioning and operational management of both underground and surface mining operations in gold and base metals. Previous positions include being the Senior Mining Engineer at NM Rothschild (London) (1998 to 2010) in the Mining and Metals project finance team, where he was responsible for the assessment of the technical risk associated with current and prospective project loans Director, Vice-President and General Manager of Minorco (AngloGold) subsidiaries in Argentina (1994 to 1997), where he was responsible for the development of the Cerro Vanguardia open pit gold-silver mine in Patagonia, Operations Director of Greenwich Resources plc, London (1984 to 1992), with gold interests in Sudan, Egypt and Australia Production Manager for Blue Circle Industries in Chile (1979 to 1984) and various production roles from graduate trainee to mine manager, in Gold Fields of South Africa (1971 to 1978). Roger serves on several boards, including Atalaya Mining Plc, Central Asia Metals plc and Highfield Resources Limited.
Non-Executive Director
Qualifications: Bachelor of Economics degree
Committees: Risk; Climate Change and Sustainability
Shelley Wai Man Lo, a Chinese National and representative of Rance Holdings, has more than 20 years’ experience in accounting, project investment and management in the infrastructure business in Hong Kong and mainland China. She is the General Manager – Roads of NWS Holdings Limited. Before joining the NWS group, she worked in the audit department of Deloitte, Hong Kong. Ms Lo is a member of both the Hong Kong and American Institutes of Certified Public Accountants.
Non-Executive director
Qualifications: Bachelor degree in Micro-electronics
Committees: Risk and Climate Change and Sustainability
Chen Hao has more than 18 years’ experience as an Engineer, Foreign Trade Manager and General Manager. He has been the General Manager at Fujian Liju Logistics Company in China since September 2014. Prior to this position, he had been a Foreign Trade Manager at Guangxi Shenglong Metallurgy Co., Ltd., China between December 2013 and August 2014, and an Engineer at APEX Information Services in the USA from August 2012 to November 2013. He had also held the position of Engineer at Calvin Wireless, New York, USA between February 2012 and July 2012.
Safety, Health and Environment Committee
Social and Ethics Committee
Climate Change and Sustainability Committee
Audit Committee
Risk Committee
Nomination Committee
Remuneration Committee
New Business Committee
Executive directors
Loucas Pouroulis (Executive Chairman)
Phoevos Pouroulis (CEO)
Michael Jones (CFO)
Independent non-executive directors
Carol Bell (Lead Independent Director)
David Salter
Antonios Djakouris
Omar Kamal
Roger Davey
Non-executive directors
Zhong Liang Hong
Shelley Wai Man Lo
The Company has a unitary board, which both leads and controls the Company. It comprises three executive directors and seven non-executive directors. Five of the seven non-executive directors are independent.
The Board is structured so that there is a clear balance of authority, ensuring that no one director has unfettered powers. The size of the Board is regulated by the Company’s Articles of Association and directors are appointed through a formal process.
The Nomination Committee identifies suitable candidates for appointment as directors. Directors are required to be individuals of calibre and credibility with the necessary skills and experience to bring judgement, independent of management, on issues of strategy, performance, resources, diversity, standards of conduct, and evaluation of performance. Merit, commitment, integrity and diversity are the core considerations in ensuring that the Board and its committees have an appropriate blend and balance of perspectives, knowledge, and experience to discharge their duties effectively and competently, having regard to the strategic direction of the Group.
There has been no change to the board composition during the year under review.
The Nomination Committee reviews and assesses the Board’s size, structure, and composition on an ongoing basis to ensure it is appropriately diversified. In this assessment, it takes into consideration that the perspective of Board members is influenced by a combination of three different sets of attributes:
The Board recognises that having a blend of attributes across all facets of diversity will lead to more thorough and robust decision-making processes and direction and therefore strives to ensure its diverse composition.
Acknowledging the benefits that can be achieved through diversity, and specifically the meaningful participation of women who possess the appropriate skills and experience as members of the Board, the Board will continue to focus on the long-term goal of improving gender representation at Board level. At present, the two female directors represent 20% of the total number of directors and 29% of the non-executive directors.
Similarly, recognising the value of age, ethnic and cultural diversity at Board level, the Board encourages the inclusion and consideration of prospective candidates’ backgrounds and a range of suitable skills based on merit and against objective criteria, and with due regard for the benefits of diversity on the Board.
In compliance with King IV, the JSE Listings Requirements and international best practice, the Nomination Committee and Board have adopted a Board level diversity policy, without introducing voluntary targets with regard to gender and racial diversification of the Board. The Nomination Committee and the Board are committed to maintaining a diverse Board of Directors with appropriate skills, without setting numerical targets. When undertaking searches for new Board members, diversity and inclusion are key considerations within these processes, alongside recruiting for skills and experience relevant to governing the Company effectively. The Board will also pursue opportunities to increase the number of female and racially and ethnically diverse Board members over time, provided that it is consistent with the skills and diversity requirements of the Board.
The Nomination Committee also considers the relationship between executive and non-executive directors during the assessment process. The Board believes there is an appropriate balance between executive and non-executive directors. The Board is satisfied that the current members of the Board collectively possess the skills, knowledge, and experience required to discharge the responsibilities of the Board effectively to achieve the Group’s objectives, promote shareholder interests, and to create value for stakeholders over the long term.
