Petra Diamonds Limited has appointed industry veterans Varda Shine and Bernard Pryor to its Board as Independent Non-Executive Directors. Both their appointments will take effect from January 1, 2019.

“These appointments have been made in accordance with the Nomination Committee’s three-year Succession Plan which is in line with Petra’s development from a phase of intensive capital expenditure and expansion to a focus on steady-state operations,” Petra announced.

Further, the Company declared that it is also “reviewing and optimising the composition of the Board, board committees and senior management structures”; and that it will address  the issue of “improving diversity at the higher levels of the business” as well.

Further announcements to this end will be made during the course of FY 2019, Petra said.

Petra’s Chairman, Adonis Pouroulis, commented: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Varda and Bernard to the Board. Their significant experience and expertise in both the mining sector and the diamond world will be a considerable asset to our Board and we look forward to working with them. Today’s announcement demonstrates the solid progress the Board has made in its Succession Plan and we expect to be in a position to make further announcements with regards to Board composition later in FY 2019.”  

Varda Shine is a Non-Executive Director, CEO’s mentor and a diamond industry Advisor. Previously, she was CEO of De Beers Trading Company where she worked with stakeholders across the supply chain (producing governments to luxury retailers) and delivered record sales and profits.

She currently sits on the Boards of Lonmin Plc, the Mineral Development Company Botswana and Sarine Technologies. Shine is also a Governing Board member of the Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) and a trustee of the Teenage Cancer Trust. 

During her three decades of work in the diamond industry, Shine became the first woman to be awarded honorary lifetime membership of the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE). She was also made an honorary member of the London Diamond Bourse in 2014.

In 2011, she received the Women’s Jewellery Association (WJA) Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bernard Pryor is a Metallurgical Engineer with over thirty-five years of experience in the international mining industry. He has held senior executive positions across a range of disciplines including project acquisition, development and construction and has run large scale, fully operational mining assets. 

He is currently CEO of Alufer Mining and Non-Executive Chairman of MC Mining Limited. Pryor was previously CEO of African Minerals Limited and Q Resources plc. Between 2006 and 2010 he held senior positions within Anglo American Plc as Head of Business Development and was CEO of Anglo Ferrous Brazil Inc. Prior to that he was COO at Adastra Minerals Inc in the DRC.