A new man in the chair at Paragon Diamonds (LON:PRG) signifies a new phase as it looks to bring the Lemphane mine into production.
On Wednesday, the group said it had appointed investment specialist Philip Falzon Sant Manduca as executive chairman as it unveiled a loan note agreement with investment group Titanium Capital.
City broker Northland described the news as positive and said it should "revitalise" the explorer.
Manduca is chief executive of Titanium and the move comes after natural resource group Obtala Resources (LON:OBT), which holds a 27.33% stake in Paragon and loan notes worth £1.996mln, agreed to sell the notes to Titanium Capital Investments for £998,000.
Martin Doyle, Paragon's current executive chairman, will continue as a non-exec director.
Ryan Long, analyst at Northland, noted that Manduca is chief executive of Titanium Capital - a private equity investment group - and had overseen the growth of a number of asset management businesses over the past 25 years.
"His success includes Titanium Capital LLP (an alternative investment manager) that was sold to two investment banks in 2007 with close to US$1bn assets under management," he said.
Earlier Manduca told investors: "I am assuming the responsibility to procure for Paragon Diamonds its funding needs in both stage 1, and within two years, stage 2 of its development of the Lemphane mine, whilst concurrently exploring further options, including the company's assets in Botswana and Zambia, that can accelerate Paragon's revenue profile."
He said his vision for the next three years was to develop Paragon into a vertically integrated diamond house, with established production from majority owned mines, starting with Lemphane, of which it owns 80% in conjunction with the Kingdom of Lesotho, which has 20%.
Lemphane may not as yet have started commercial production but signs are promising and it is believed to be the last world-class kimberlite to be developed in Lesotho.
It also boasts a positive postcode as it lies close to Gem Diamonds' Letseng pipe, which is renowned for the recovery of exceptionally large and valuable diamonds.
A recent independent size frequency and revenue modelling report indicated preliminary diamond values from stage 1 production at Lemphane will be between US$930 - US$1,025/carat for grades of 2 carats (cts) per hundred tonnes while the size frequency study indicated that 12% of carats will be over 9 carats.
Stage 1 production is expected to generate revenues of US$8mln per year starting at the open pit, with a target rate of 20,000 carats at an estimated average value of US$750 per carat.
Titanium will be able to convert the loan notes into shares at 2.75 pence each; the notes have a five year term and carry no interest.
Obtala has also granted Titanium an option to buy 60mln shares at 3.25p a share up to December 1 this year; shares in Paragon currently trade at around 3.5p.
Moreover, Paragon and Titanium Capital will establish a sales and marketing company, which will buy and sell diamonds globally.
Paragon will own 25% of this, increasing to a maximum of 50% once fully set up.
Paragon's managing director Dr Stephen Grimmer told investors: "Philip is joining Paragon at an exciting time as we look to bring Lemphane into production. Philip's experience in financial markets and extensive network of contacts within the financial sector and amongst high net worth individuals will prove invaluable."