Lesotho
Olive farming and property development: "Drifting in flowing homespun, basket on arm, barefoot beneath the venerable trees, culling the ripe fruits; timeless, calm: absolute rubbish of course!" - Dirk Bogarde (An Orderly Man)
Time to deliver shareholder value by implementing prudent fiscal policies and competent operational management.
Meso Diamonds (Pty) Ltd is the 80% owned Basotho subsidiary of Paragon Diamonds Listed, a public diamond mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange (PRG). www.paragondiamonds.com Meso Diamonds, together with the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, is developing the Lemphane diamond mine, a 3 Mt/year operation located in the Maluti Mountains of Northern Lesotho. "The Mountain Kingdom" - Lesotho hosts the highest peaks in Africa south of Kilimanjaro. No part of the Kingdom lies below 1,400m and 80% of the country is above 1,800m, making it the highest country in the world.
Joined precursor company Obtala Resources PLC in October 2010 as Mine Manager , Kono Alluvial Diamond Mine, Sierra Leone, managing all aspects of mine production, processing and corporate representation to Government. Increased production from 600 to 3,000+ carats per month of high-value gems. On the spin-out and listing of Obtala's diamond assets I assumed the role of Managing Director of AIM listed Paragon. From June 2011 to November 2015 I managed Paragon's flag-ship Lesotho Kimberlite development projects, acting as Lesotho Country and Project Manager. This included the assessment, mobilization, EPCM, bulk sampling of 18,000 tonnes, delineation drilling of over 48Mt of kimberlite, scoping study, consultant and contractor management, government liaison and negotiations and full permitting for the successful award of a 20 year, 3Mt/year Mining Lease over the Lemphane kimberlite. In addition I managed the resource development of the green-field Motete kimberlite dyke project to a 1M carat indicated/inferred resource and definitive feasibility study status.