A swathe of new faces at diamond prospector Newfield Resources Ltd (ASX:NWF) are poised to bring the company into its next stage of development.
Who’s on board?
As the Tongo Diamond Mine in Sierra Leone gears up for commercial production, the ASX-lister has recruited Governance Institute of Australia fellow Kunal Malhotra as a non-executive director.
With upwards of 15 years of corporate and commercial law experience, Malhotra has advised listed and private clients on acquisitions, corporate and regulatory compliance, governance and commercial transactions — expertise that will bolster Newfield as it prepares for future development.
Joining Kunal as senior technical advisor is Koos Visser, an electrical engineer with operations expertise, particularly in the diamonds space. Visser is familiar with the Tongo mine, having consulted on and designed the 50-tonnes-per-annum plant that will facilitate production at the Sierra Leone diamond camp.
Rounding out the new recruits is incoming CFO Lili Jiang, a chartered accountant with more than 15 years of corporate and financial management experience in the resources sector. She also holds a Masters in Professional Accounting from Curtin University in Western Australia.
Leveraging technical, financial and governance expertise
Newfield executive director Karl Smithson welcomed his new colleagues, noting that the board and advisory changes would strengthen the company’s technical, financial and governance capacity as it strives to take the Tongo Diamond Mine to the next level.
“We warmly welcome Kunal to the board and believe that his extensive knowledge in corporate governance and risk management will broaden and strengthen the board’s experience and expertise,” he noted.
“We are also excited to strengthen our relationship with Koos, who brings an outstanding track record of project delivery, in particular with underground diamond mining and ore processing innovation and technologies.
“We believe that he will be an invaluable asset to the company, offering support and advice to the board and management of Newfield, as we complete our mine development and progress towards full production at Tongo.”
Farewell to non-executive directors
Amid the fresh appointments, Newfield has also farewelled non-executive directors Alistair Croll and Karen O’Neill.
Commenting on their time with Newfield, Smithson said: “I also wish to recognise Alistair and Karen for their contribution to the company as the Tongo Diamond Mine evolved from development into first production during the course of their tenure.
“On behalf of my fellow directors, we thank them for their service and wish them all the best in their next endeavours.”