– UK, London / South Africa – Premier African Minerals Limited, the AIM quoted multi-commodity natural resource company with mineral projects located in Western and Southern Africa, is pleased to announce the appointment of Alexander Graham du Plessis and Neil Lindsey Herbert to the Board. Concurrently Bruce Cumming and Leslie Goodman have stepped down from the Board. These appointments are an integral part of the Company’s strategy as it looks to build upon its position as a leading exploration and production development company in Zimbabwe and Togo.
George Roach, Premier CEO, expressed his appreciation on behalf of the board to the outgoing directors who had seen Premier through the initial listing process and advised on the strategic deal with Ethiopian Potash Corp (‘EPC’), which resulted in EPC acquiring Premier’s Togo and Mali subsidiaries. He noted that Alex du Plessis and Neil Herbert bring special skills to Premier; Alex du Plessis in regard to mine development with special reference to the Premier’s RHA Tungsten project in Zimbabwe and Neil Herbert in corporate affairs, market communication and deal structuring.
Alex du Plessis is a Professional Engineer with extensive experience in the African mining arena. He has held management, development and operational roles in various mining companies and covering a range of commodities including diamonds, coal and gold, and is currently a non-executive director of AgriMinco Corp., an exploration and development company focused on the development of agricultural mineral projects across Africa. Premier owns 42% of Agriminco. Furthermore, as a past director of the Research Organisation of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa and the founding director of the Centre for Mechanised Mining Systems at the University of the Witwatersrand, he has a solid understanding of technical innovation in mining. He established Turgis Consulting in 1990 and was CEO and later Chairman of Turgis, until the company was acquired, in 2008, by DHV Group BV, a global consulting engineering firm, where after he acted as the DHV Group Business Development Executive – Mining until 2010. He currently consults with a wide range of mining industry clients around the world, and is also a Visiting Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Mechanised Mining at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Professor du Plessis is a registered Professional Engineer and is a Fellow of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He also holds a BSc (Eng.) (Electrical) and MSc (Eng.) from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, has completed a Management Development Programme at the University Of South Africa School Of Business Leadership and holds a South African Government Engineering Certificate of Competency for Mines and Works.
Neil Herbert is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and has over 20 years of experience in finance. He has worked in the management of mining and exploration companies for over 15 years and was, until recently (May 2013), Co-Chairman and Managing Director of AIM quoted Polo Resources Limited (AIM: POL), a globally focused natural resources and mine development investment company, where he remains as a consultant. He has held Board positions at several resources companies and has been responsible for project acquisitions and disposals together with stock market listings and fundraisings. From 2005-2007 he was Financial Director for UraMin Inc., an African focussed uranium exploration company, and helped list the company on AIM and the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2006, raising up to US$400 million in equity financing and negotiating the sale of the group to Areva for US$2.5 billion. He holds a Joint Honours Degree in Economics and Economic History from the University of Leicester.
About Premier African Minerals
Premier African Minerals Limited is a multi-commodity exploration and development company focussed in Southern and West Africa. As well as its shareholding in TSX quoted AgriMinco Corp, the Company has a diverse portfolio of multi-commodity projects which includes tungsten, rare earth elements (‘REE’), gold, lithium, tantalum and uranium in Zimbabwe and Togo, which span from brownfield projects with near-term production potential to grass-roots exploration. Premier plans to create value by implementing defined exploration and development programmes to prove-up resources with a view to future production and/or forming strategic alliances and completing corporate transactions to maximise shareholder value.
Premier’s portfolio includes its flagship RHA tungsten project (‘RHA’) in Zimbabwe in respect of which, a SAMREC compliant resource statement and Preliminary Economic Study is due for release within the next 14 days. Premier’s second priority project in Zimbabwe is the Katete REE project, which has the potential to be developed as an open pit mine. The project, which spans 3,750 ha, has returned a peak result from trenching of 14.6% TREO.
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