Loucas Pouroulis, the founder of Southern-Africa-focussed producer of platinum and chrome Tharisa PLC (THS ), is to step aside as chairman to become Founding Chairman Emeritus.
Carol Bell will be appointed independent non-executive chairman.
Bell brings more than 40 years' experience in energy and allied industries. She was Managing Director of Chase Manhattan Bank's Global Oil & Gas Group and Head of European Equity Research at J.P. Morgan, and earlier an equity research analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS Phillips & Drew.
She began her career in corporate planning at Charterhouse Petroleum and RTZ Oil and Gas.
In addition, David Salter, currently independent non-executive director, will take on the role of deputy chairman, Michelle Taylor, currently chief operating officer, will be appointed chief corporate and commercial officer, and Roy Murley, currently executive, operations, will be appointed chief operations officer.
Pouroulis’s contribution to South African mining spans more than six decades, and his contribution to the chrome sector was recognised with the Lifetime Award at the 2019 South African Chrome Industry Dinner and Awards Ceremony.
He has chaired the board of Tharisa since 27 October 2010. Under his leadership, Tharisa developed from a greenfield project into a large-scale, integrated producer of PGM and chrome concentrates, listed on the JSE in 2014 and on the LSE in 2016.
As Founding Chairman Emeritus, he will remain available to the board and executive team as an adviser on strategy, stakeholder relationships and the Group's long-term growth projects.
“Building Tharisa from a greenfield project into an integrated, multigenerational producer of PGM and chrome concentrates has been one of the great privileges of my career,” said Loucas Pouroulis.
“It continues a journey in Southern African mining that began more than six decades ago and has always been driven by a belief in identifying mineral assets with unrealised potential, building capable teams and creating enduring businesses around them. Securing Karo Platinum through many years of perseverance positions Tharisa to become a multi-asset, multi-jurisdictional group for generations to come. Good governance means planning succession well before it is needed, and I am delighted to hand the chairmanship to Carol, who knows this board and this business deeply. I remain fully committed to Tharisa and look forward to supporting Carol, Phoevos and the team as Founding Chairman Emeritus.”
View from Vox
Tharisa is currently transitioning from being a single asset producer of chrome and platinum to a multi-jurisdictional one. In addition, operations at its main mine in South Africa are moving underground. So there’s a lot going on, and some serious succession planning was clearly merited. Long-standing chief executive Phoevos Pouroulis remains in post, supported by the highly experienced team that he and Loucas Pouroulis helped assemble. The newly constituted board looks well able to meet the challenges of the future.