REG - Gemfields Group Ltd - New Chair and Directors

GemfieldsAnnouncement

11/06/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 7998R  Gemfields Group Limited  11 June 2024

Incorporated in Guernsey. Guernsey registration Number: 47656

South African external company registration number 2009/012636/10

Share code on JSE: GML / AIM: GEM

ISIN: GG00BG0KTL52 | LEI: 21380017GAVXTCYS5R31

("Gemfields" or the "Company")

New Chair and Directors

LONDON, 11 JUNE 2024

Gemfields is pleased to announce changes to the Board of Gemfields, due to
take effect on 1 July 2024, following a broad search for both a new Chair and
Non-Executive Directors.

Appointment of Bruce Cleaver as Chair and Independent Non-Executive Director

Bruce Cleaver will join Gemfields' Board as Chair and Independent
Non-Executive Director on 1 July 2024. Bruce will also become Chair of the
Nomination Committee.

Bruce's reputation as a preeminent leader is well documented and he brings
considerable experience of mining gemstones in Africa and marketing them
internationally. Bruce was previously Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chair of
De Beers Group, the world's leading diamond company.

Martin Tolcher, the outgoing Chair, commented:

"After 15 years as a member of Gemfields' Board and approaching 5 years as
Chair, the time has come for me to step away from the Company in order to
bolster Board independence. I am truly delighted to have such a remarkable
successor in Bruce and am confident that Gemfields will go from strength to
strength under his stewardship."

Bruce Cleaver, the incoming Chair, commented:

"First and most importantly, I would like to convey my thanks and
congratulations to Martin for his significant contribution to Gemfields, both
as a Board member since 2008 and as Chair since 2019. He has played an
invaluable role from Gemfields' humble beginnings to it being, today, the
world's leading coloured gemstone company.

"Gemfields is a unique and extraordinary business, one that has taken a
fragmented and fairly informal industry to considerable sophistication as the
first consistent supplier of significant quantities of coloured gemstones in a
responsible and transparent manner. The parallels with De Beers' origins and
how consistent and reliable supply can deliver remarkable industry growth and
positive contributions to communities, are clear to all. The coloured gemstone
market has long-transcended the arrival of their lab-grown counterparts, with
lab-grown rubies having been around for more than 120 years.

"I am excited and enthused to take on the role of Chair of Gemfields' Board
and look forward to working with Sean, David and the Gemfields team as we
prepare the Company for its next stage of growth, including by way of the
construction of a new processing plant - tripling throughput capacity - at the
world's leading ruby mine, MRM, and which is on schedule for completion during
the first half of 2025."

Appointment of Simon Scott as Independent Non-Executive Director

Simon Scott will join Gemfields' Board as Independent Non-Executive Director
on 1 July 2024. Simon will join the Audit Committee and the Nomination
Committee and will also Chair the Risk Council.

Simon has had an illustrious career with extensive experience on public
company boards in both executive and non-executive roles during a long career
in mining and finance. Simon was previously Chief Financial Officer of Lonmin
plc, the LSE listed platinum miner and is a non-executive director of First
Quantum Minerals Ltd and Sylvania Platinum Ltd.

Appointment of Kieran Daly as Non-Executive Director

Kieran Daly will join Gemfields' Board as Non-Executive Director on 1 July
2024. Kieran Daly is currently an alternate director to Patrick Sacco on the
Gemfields Board. His disclosures under Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM Rules for
Companies were included in his appointment announcement as an alternative
director in November 2021.

Kieran is Managing Director of Assore International Holdings (which holds a
29.2% holding in Gemfields Group Limited and therefore he is not deemed
independent) and, Executive: Growth & Strategic Development at Assore
Holdings. Kieran has significant experience in mining across various
geographies and commodities and holds board-level roles in other mining
companies including at Atlantic Lithium Ltd.

 

Resignation of Martin Tolcher, Lumkile Mondi and Carel Malan

In Gemfields' 2023 Notice of AGM, Martin Tolcher, Gemfields' Chair, and
Lumkile Mondi, Lead Independent Non-Executive Director, informed shareholders
that they had entered their final terms in office on the Board and intended to
ensure a smooth transition. Martin and Lumkile resign from Gemfields' Board
with effect from 1 July 2024 to allow the appointment of the new Chair and
Non-Executive Directors.

Carel Malan also resigns from Gemfields' Board with effect from 1 July 2024 in
order to focus on his now permanent role at Ore & Metal Company Ltd, a
100% subsidiary of Assore Holdings.

Martin, Lumkile and Carel have all provided invaluable contributions to the
Company during their respective tenures on Gemfields' Board. Gemfields will
formally thank them for their service at the upcoming AGM on 25 June 2024.

Other Board changes

Kwape Mmela, Gemfields' Independent Non-Executive Director, Chair of the
Remuneration Committee and a member of the Nomination Committee, will become
Lead Independent Non-Executive Director and join the Audit Committee with
effect from 1 July 2024.

New directors' current and previous (held within the past five years) Board
appointments

 Bruce Cleaver - Directorships to disclose

 Grantley House (Kent) Limited                 Current
 Vergelegen Wines (Pty) Ltd                    Current
 DBCM Holdings (Pty) Ltd                       Former
 De Beers Group                                Former
 De Beers PLC                                  Former
 Debswana Diamond Company Proprietary Limited  Former
 Element Six Abrasives Holdings Limited        Former
 Element Six Holdings Limited                  Former
 Help2read                                     Former
 Namdeb Holdings (Pty) Limited                 Former

 

 

 

 Simon Scott - Directorships to disclose

 First Quantum Minerals Limited           Current
 Sylvania Platinum Limited                Current
 Anglogold Ashanti Holdings PLC           Former

 

Bruce (aged 59) and Simon (aged 66) do not hold any legal or beneficial direct
or indirect interest in the ordinary shares of the Company.

There are no further disclosures to be made under Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM
Rules for Companies.

 

 

-ENDS-

 

 

Further information on Gemfields Group Limited can be found at:

 GEMFIELDSGROUP.COM (http://WWW.GEMFIELDSGROUP.COM)

 

To join our investor mailing list, contact us on:
ir@gemfields.com (mailto:ir@gemfields.com)

 

For any press enquiries please contact us on:
gemfields@camarco.co.uk (mailto:gemfields@camarco.co.uk)

 

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) no. 596/2014 which forms part of domestic UK
law pursuant to the European Union (withdrawal) act 2018 ("MAR").

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENQUIRIES

 

 

 GEMFIELDS            Sean Gilbertson / David Lovett / Ian Hughes

                      ir@gemfields.com (mailto:ir@gemfields.com)

T:  +44(0) 20 7518 3400
 SPONSOR (JSE)        Investec Bank Limited
 NOMINATED ADVISER    Liberum

(AIM) & BROKER
Scott Mathieson / John More / Anake Singh
                      T: +44(0) 20 3100 2222
 FINANCIAL PR/ IR     Camarco
                      Gordon Poole / Emily Hall / Charlie Dingwall

T: +44(0) 20 3757 4980

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON GEMFIELDS

 

Gemfields is a world-leading responsible miner and marketer of coloured
gemstones. Gemfields is the operator and 75% owner of both the Kagem emerald
mine in Zambia (believed to be the world's single largest producing emerald
mine) and the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique (one of the most significant
recently discovered ruby deposits in the world). In addition, Gemfields also
holds controlling interests in various other gemstone mining and prospecting
licences in Zambia, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Madagascar.

 

Gemfields' outright ownership of Fabergé - an iconic and prestigious brand of
exceptional heritage - enables Gemfields to optimise positioning, perception
and consumer awareness of coloured gemstones through Fabergé designs,
advancing the wider group's "mine and market" vision.

 

Gemfields has developed a proprietary grading system and a pioneering auction
platform to provide a consistent supply of coloured gemstones to downstream
markets, a key component of Gemfields' business model that has played an
important role in the growth of the global coloured gemstone sector.

 

 

GEMFIELDS

GEMFIELDS.COM (https://gemfields.com/) (https://gemfields.com/) | INVESTORS
(https://www.gemfieldsgroup.com/) (https://www.gemfieldsgroup.com/)
|FOUNDATION (https://www.gemfieldsfoundation.org/)

INSTAGRAM (https://www.instagram.com/gemfields/)
(https://www.instagram.com/gemfields/) | FACEBOOK
(https://www.facebook.com/Gemfields/) (https://www.facebook.com/Gemfields/) |
TWITTER (https://twitter.com/GemfieldsLtd?lang=en)
(https://twitter.com/GemfieldsLtd?lang=en) | YOUTUBE
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCArCE0JFtakTP-tHq6v0KVg)

 

FABERGÉ

FABERGÉ.COM (https://www.faberge.com/) | INSTAGRAM
(https://www.instagram.com/officialfaberge/)
(https://www.instagram.com/officialfaberge/) | FACEBOOK
(https://www.facebook.com/OfficialFaberge)
(https://www.facebook.com/OfficialFaberge) | TWITTER
(https://twitter.com/OfficialFaberge) (https://twitter.com/OfficialFaberge) |
YOUTUBE (https://www.youtube.com/user/officialfaberge)

 

KAGEM MINING LINKEDIN (https://www.linkedin.com/company/kagem-mining-ltd)

MONTEPUEZ RUBY MINING LINKEDIN
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/montepuez-ruby-mining)

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