Mr. Watson was appointed to the Platmin board in August 2004. He started his career at Gold Fields South Africa (GFSA) as trainee mining engineer and progressed through the ranks. He has held senior positions at a number of South African gold mines including that of mine manager at West Driefontein. He later led the start-up of Northam Platinum including the underground mine design, pioneering the use of hydropower and commissioning of the mine’s metallurgical operations. In 1992 Mr. Watson was appointed a Consulting Engineer for GFSA, providing technical and managerial services for the Group’s gold, platinum and base metal companies. In 1998 Mr. Watson returned to Northam Platinum Limited as its managing director, Mr. Watson became a director of Platmin on August 5, 2004.
Mr. Holohan graduated in 1979 with a Bachelors of Science degree in Physical and Extractive Metallurgy from Leeds University (United Kingdom) and is a Chartered Engineer (QP) through the IMMM (United Kingdom). Mr. Holohan joined Platmin as Chief Operating Officer in June of 2007. He most recently (2003 to mid 2006) held the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Ivanhoe Nickel and Platinum Limited and was an executive member of the board of directors from mid 2006. He has extensive experience in the design, construction and operation of large platinum group metal mines, smelters and refineries previously (2002 to 2003) holding positions as Business Manager, and Alternative Director, for Anglo Platinum and its subsidiary that operated the Rustenburg Base Metal Refinery. Other positions held include: Business Manager & Alternative Director (2000 to 2002) at the Waterval Smelter (held by a subsidiary of Anglo Platinum), Business Area Manager (1994 to 1999) at Hartley Platinum (a subsidiary of BHP (Minerals), Implats Refining Services (IRS) Manager (1992 to 1994) at Implats Refining Services (a subsidiary of Impala Platinum), Base Metal Refinery Manager (1991 to 1992) at Impala Refineries (a subsidiary of Impala Platinum), Concentrator Manager and Smelter Superintendent (1989) at Union Platinum Mines, (a subsidiary of Anglo Platinum).
Mr. Degni obtained a B.Acc from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa in 1978. He is a registered Chartered Accountant in South Africa and Australia. Mr. Degni has extensive finance and acquisitions and IT experience at management level in the international business arena, having spent many years working for both listed and private corporations. Mr. Degni has most recently been managing his own Management & IT Consulting Business. He joined as acting Chief Financial Officer of Platmin on June 1, 2007. His prior experience includes positions held as Group Finance and Acquisitions Director and Managing Director of a management & IT consultancy whose clients included ABSA Bank , Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam, Publicis, Festo Pneumatics, Cott Corporation , Deloitte Consulting and Sasani Limited.
Mr. Mmela joined Boynton Investments, Platmin’s operating subsidiary in South Africa in 2006. His key areas of focus include new business development and government relations. Mr. Mmela established Moepi Capital (now Moepi Platinum), an empowerment investment company focused on mining, energy and financial services and now heads the Moepi group of companies. He previously held the position of manager responsible for mining, mineral and land rights at Anglo Platinum. From 1995 to 1997 Mr. Mmela was an adviser to the Constitutional Assembly during the drafting of South Africa’s final constitution; from 1997 to 2002 he was the Land Claims Commissioner responsible for the resolution of land claims in two South African provinces. In recognition of his work in the public service, he was the recipient of the Batho Pele (People First) award from the former Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs of South Africa
Mr. van der Merwe obtained a BSc Honours in Geology from the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 1982. Prior to joining Platmin as Exploration Manager in August 2008, Mr. van der Merwe held the position of Senior Exploration Manager for Lonmin PLC (2006 to mid 2008). His 20 years at Lonmin include senior positions at both Eastern and Western Platinum, while his experience in the sector ranges from mining geology in the Bushveld Complex to strategic experience within the PGE mining and exploration environment.
Mr. Betton has more than 30 years experience in the South African mining sector, holding senior positions at a number of South African gold, base metal and platinum operations including Driefontein, Greenside Colliery and Northam Platinum. Mr. Betton led the engineering team tasked with bringing Messina Platinum into production in 2001, and in 2004 was appointed Group Manager Engineering at Southern Era while fulfilling the role of Project Manager for the feasibility studies at Messina’s Doornvlei and Dwaalkop properties. In 2005 Mr. Betton joined Read, Swatman and Voight (Pty) Ltd, Consulting Engineers and Project Managers before being appointed at Platmin in 2006.
Mr. Brönn joined Platmin from Lafarge South Africa, where, for the past 15 years he has held various positions in engineering and operational management at a number of underground and opencast mining operations. Most recently he served as Performance Manager at the South African mining operations of Lafarge, a position he has held since 2004. Mr. Brönn has extensive operational expertise and experience, particularly with open pit mines, which will stand Platmin in good stead as the flagship Pilanesberg project builds up to production in the first quarter of calendar 2009.
Mr. Campbell has 24 years plant operational and project experience in both the gold and platinum mining industries. During his extensive career, he has played a pivotal part in the development of various innovations within the metallurgical field. Prior to joining Platmin in September 2008, Mr. Campbell was responsible for overseeing all concentrators at Aquarius Platinum’s Kroondal operation also located within the Bushveld Complex.
Mr. Crossling obtained his BSc Honours in Geology from the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) in 2000. He has experience within the underground and open pit production environment as well as ore resource evaluation. Prior to joining Platmin in June 2008, Mr. Crossling has been employed by Anglo Platinum and within the consulting environment. He is familiar with both the eastern and western limb of the Bushveld Complex.
Mr. Derbyshire has 29 years plant operational and project experience in senior positions in the zinc, gold, coal and platinum industries including Zinc Corporation, Vlakfontein and Leeudoorn Gold, Greenside Colliery, Northam Platinum and Messina Platinum. He was the Metallurgical Manager responsible for operations at Northam Platinum’s concentrator, smelter and BMR complex from 1995 to 2001 including the metallurgical aspects of the design, construction and commissioning of the 75000tpm UG2 concentrator in 2000. He was appointed Metallurgical Manager during the design, construction, and commissioning and operations phase of Southern Era’s Messina concentrators from 2001 to 2005. He consulted for Boynton Platinum before being appointed in 2005 and is currently responsible for the metallurgical aspects of the various ongoing projects.
Jan read law at the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa. He obtained the degrees B.A., B.Proc and LL.B., after which he was admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. He was involved in local government before starting work in the nuclear industry in 1980. He held the position of Company Secretary and Chief Legal Advisor of the Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa Limited where he gained experience in management, regulatory legislation, the commercialization of business units, contract law and the legal aspects of plant construction. In 1989 he accepted a directorship with a South African aviation company after which he practised as an independent legal and business consultant before joining the Platmin Group in 2003.
Dean is a mechanical engineer with 25 years operational and management experience in the mining and metallurgical industry. He was previously employed at Gold Fields and Northam Platinum, where he was involved in the building of the concentrator plants, smelter and the BMR plant, and in operating the concentrators. He moved to Messina Platinum in 2001 and was responsible for the installation and equipping of the shaft complex. In 2005 he joined Lonmin as systems engineer at Marikana before being appointed at Platmin in 2007.
The board currently has seven directors, three of whom, including the Chairman, are independent.
Platmin’s strength lies in the combination of its quality project, management skills, partnerships and ability to finance its projects to explore and develop platinum group metals Mineral Resources located in the world’s largest PGM district.