Lucara Diamond (TSX:LUC) announced Monday the company will appoint William Lamb as president and chief executive officer and a director, replacing Eira Thomas.
Thomas co-founded Lucara in 2007 with partners Lukas Lundin and Catherine McLeod-Seltzer and took on the role of president and CEO in 2018.
The company did not specify a date for the intended leadership transition.
Thomas has been integral to the development and success of the company’s 100% owned Karowe diamond mine, which is the world’s leading source of large exceptional quality Type IIa diamonds, Lucara said in the statement.
The board said it would like to acknowledge the special contributions that Thomas made over her many years of involvement with Lucara in her capacity as a director, and specifically over the last five years as CEO.
As CEO, she introduced an innovative diamond sales strategy for Lucara’s production of rough stones greater than 10.8+ carats though Lucara’s agreement with HB Antwerp, generating regular revenues on superior pricing terms.
Thomas also led the commercialization of Clara, a secure, digital diamond sales platform. The Karowe mine achieved peak operational performance and she and her team arranged for a senior secured project financing debt package of $220 million enabling the underground expansion to advance.
Lamb has over 25 years’ experience in mining project development and operations. He served as chief executive officer of Lucara from May 2011 to February 2018.
Lamb also has prior diamond and other mining company expertise gained through projects, process engineering and operations with De Beers, as well as serving on several public mining company boards. During his original tenure at Lucara, he was responsible for the successful construction of the original Karowe mine and its facilities.
“On behalf of Lucara’s board of directors, I would like to thank Eira for her leadership and the integral role she has played in the success of the Karowe diamond mine,” Paul Conibear, chair of Lucara, said in the statement.
“Eira’s commitment, excellent team leadership skills, focus on operational excellence and her ability to see how innovation and technology can be harnessed to strengthen our company have been invaluable,” Conibear added. “Lucara has also benefited from the deep ties Eira has made with the communities in which we operate and our stakeholders through her hard work and foresight.”
