Diamond miner Lucapa has announced the appointment of Nick Selby as chief executive officer and managing director.
The appointment transitions Selby from the interim chief executive officer role, which he has held since August 2023.
As part of the company’s board restructuring process, Lucapa said it is continuing to identify suitable non-executive director candidates to join the board.
Selby said he was delighted to take on the role of CEO and managing director as Lucapa’s mining operations increase production and operational efficiencies at its assets in Africa and Australia.
The company has plans to advance the search for primary sources of high-quality diamonds being recovered at its Lulo Alluvial diamond mine in Angola.
The largest recorded diamonds in Angola’s history have been recovered at Lulo, which lies in the diamond heartland of Lunda Norte, 630km east of the capital, Luanda.
Commercial production at Lulo commenced in 2015 through the alluvial mining company Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML).
SML is a partnership between Lucapa Diamond who own 40 per cent, Angola’s Endiama with 32 per cent and private Angolan company Rosas & Petalas who hold a 28 per cent stake.
To date, more than 35 diamonds over 100 carats have been recovered from Lulo.
Back on Australian shores in 2021, through its wholly owned subsidiary Australian Natural Diamonds, Lucapa completed an acquisition of the Merlin diamond project, a historic mine in the Northern Territory.
The existing resource, which is based on Rio Tinto data, contains 27.8 million tonnes at an average grade of 16 carats per hundred tonnes for 4.4 million contained carats.
The mineral lease for the area was renewed last year until 2047, with a feasibility study expected to be completed in 2023.