Austral Resources Australia is continuing its deep dive into a new era of copper consolidation with a raft of board appointments described as adding deep resource sector experience.
Neil Meadows, David Quinlivan and Sean Westbrook will join the company as non-executive directors in a shift tied to an equity raising and recapitalisation that the North-West Queensland copper producer has underway.
Their appointment will take effect from the re-quotation of the company’s securities on the ASX.
It follows Austral’s announcement last month of a deal to acquire Copper Resources Australia, owner of the Rocklands mine near Cloncurry.
The company has since signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Maronan Metals regarding future toll treatment of ore from the Maronan deposit at Rocklands.
It also recently inked a deal to acquire Glencore’s Lady Loretta mining lease and associated exploration tenements.
The company said that acquisition would allow it to extract additional copper ore from its existing Lady Annie mine, which adjoins the Lady Loretta mining lease boundary.
“Whilst recent announcements have focussed on acquisitions and production, these appointments reveal our intent to grow and evolve, as we’ve been working hard on finding the right people to help assist the company as we continue executing on our strategy to consolidate the North-West Queensland copper region,” Austral Resources chairman David Newling said.
“David, Neil and Sean’s qualifications, skills and experience are world class and provide us with a significantly enhanced skill set at board level.”
The company has also established a technical committee dedicated to working with management to focus on Austral’s mining, mine development and exploration activities, particularly as they relate to the Rocklands restart strategy.
Incoming board member Mr Meadows has been appointed as Glencore’s nominee non-executive director.
He is a qualified metallurgist with 40-plus years’ experience in refinery, general operations and manufacturing across multiple jurisdictions and commodities.
He has previously held senior positions with Glencore, Wiluna Mining Corporation, European Metals Holdings, BHP Billiton and Queensland Nickel.
He was most recently president of the Koniambo Nickel Smelter, a joint venture operated by Glencore, and has held various directorships.
Mr Quinlivan is a mining engineer with experience including 11 years’ of service at WMC Resources, followed by a number of high-profile mining development positions. He is a non-executive director of Vault Minerals and Dalaroo Metals.
Mr Westbrook is a qualified geologist with more than 25 years’ experience in mineral exploration, project development and management internationally and across multiple commodities.
He has held senior technical and management roles with BHP Billiton Iron Ore, PanAust Resources, Oz Minerals, and Harmony Gold and is currently on the board of Canadian-listed CopperCorp Resources.