Petra Diamonds Limited announced today that Peter Hill CBE has been appointed as Non-Executive Director and Chairman-designate of the company with effect from January 1, 2020, and as Non-Executive Chairman on March 31, 2020, in succession to founder and Chairman Adonis Pouroulis.

The new appointee, Hill is a Mining Engineer, is currently Non-Executive Chairman of the world's largest geotechnical contractor Keller Group plc, and of the leading European and Australasian building products company Volution Group plc, overseeing its IPO in 2014. He was Non-Executive Chairman of the multi-media graphics processor company Imagination Technologies during 2017, and from 2012 to late 2015 the Non-Executive Chairman of the international specialty chemicals company Alent plc. From 2002 to late 2011 Peter was Chief Executive of Laird plc, a leading global electronics and technology group employing over 10,000 people worldwide.

Petra said that Hill has extensive Board experience, as a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of many companies as well as UK Trade and Investment, now the Department for International Trade, and of the Royal Air Force, chaired by the UK Secretary of State for Defence.

Peter began his career in the Gold Division of Anglo American Corporation, holding underground supervisory positions at Free State Geduld Mines in South Africa before moving to Rossing Uranium, then part of Rio Tinto, in Namibia, where he held mine planning and open pit supervisory positions. He moved to London as the Mining Engineer with the then BP Minerals, before joining Consolidated Gold Fields plc, initially as Minerals Economist then as Group Executive Operations, before becoming Group Executive Corporate Finance assisting the Chief Financial Officer during the then hostile take-over bid by Minorco SA.

Peter was an Executive Director on the Board of the international engineering and construction company Costain Group plc, and was President and CEO of Costain Coal Inc in the USA. He subsequently held senior management positions with BTR plc and Invensys plc; he has been directly involved in four UK plc takeovers, a FTSE 100 merger, a FTSE 250 demerger and an IPO.

Peter holds a BSc in Mining Engineering, and an MBA from the London Business School. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Materials, Minerals and Mining, and holds a South Africa Mine Manager's Certificate of Competency.

Petra's Non-Executive Chairman, Adonis Pouroulis, commented: "We are delighted that Peter will be joining Petra Diamonds. He brings an impressive track record of Chairmanships and Board memberships across a range of global companies, industries and organisations, built on his earlier career in the mining industry including in Southern Africa, in underground and open pit operations, in planning and in project evaluation and development, in mining finance and as a CEO. I am personally delighted that someone of Peter's calibre and experience will be succeeding me as Chairman, and I wish him well."

Peter Hill commented: "I am honoured and privileged to be appointed Chairman-designate of Petra Diamonds. I look forward greatly to working with the Board, as well as with Richard and his executive team, in taking Petra forward to the next stage of its development."

Tony Lowrie, Petra's Senior Independent Non-Executive Director, commented: "We are very pleased with the outcome of the Nomination Committee's search for a new Chairman, which was assisted by an independent external search and leadership advisory firm, Egon Zehnder. This marks one of the most important developments in the Company's Three Year Succession Plan, which is currently in its final year and was instigated to reflect the Company's maturity from its intensive capital expansion phase to that of steady state, cash-generative operations.

"Adonis Pouroulis will now be stepping down on March 31, 2020. Having founded and listed Petra in 1997, Adonis has led the Company through an extraordinary period of growth and into one of the world's top five independent diamond producers. There have been many challenges along the way, but also opportunities that were grasped with both hands and that were instrumental in building the Group we have today. Throughout his tenure, Adonis has led with passion, resilience and tremendous energy, backed up by his love for Africa and a desire to generate value for all of Petra's stakeholders. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Adonis for his exceptional contribution to Petra and it has been a pleasure to work closely with him as Senior Independent Director."