Robert Bouquet has joined the board of Botswana Diamonds (LON:BOD) as a non-executive director from today.
The AIM-listed company said Bouquet had more than 16 years' experience in the global diamond industry.
Most of his career has been with leading producers De Beers and Rio Tinto Diamonds in a variety of strategic and commercial roles, it added.
Chairman John Teeling said he was delighted at the appointment.
"We have exciting years ahead in this company and I am sure that his wide diamond pipeline knowledge and commercial experience will be an asset to Botswana Diamonds and a complement to the expertise that we already have within the company."
On appointment, Bouquet will be granted options over 250,000 ordinary shares in the company.These options have an exercise price of 6 pence, vest immediately, and expire on 27 May 2018.
In April this year, it emerged that the firm had begun a 60-90 day exploration programme in a remote rainforest area of Cameroon - on the company's 8.000 square km diamond licence south of the Mobilong diamond field.
It aims to identify the presence and extent of the diamond bearing host rock that defines Mobilong and the work will include geological mapping and excavation.