Piet Nel, who was involved in the listing of Petmin of the JSE in 1986, was appointed to the Board in that year, becoming Non-executive Chairman in 1990. A qualified geologist, he was, until 30 April 2004, the Managing Director of Petrex (Pty) Limited (Petrex), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bema Gold Corporation, which operates Grootvlei Mines (Pty) Ltd, Consolidated Modderfontein Mines (1979) Limited and Nigel Gold Mining Company (Pty) Ltd.
Prior to this, Mr Nel was the Managing Director of Venmag (Pty) Ltd, a magnesia mine. He is a founding member of Geocapro Services CC, a geological consulting and contracting business with offices in Klerksdorp and on the East Rand.
Ian Cockerill was appointed Executive Chairman Designate on 1 March 2010, and will be appointed Executive Chairman of Petmin Limited with effect from 1 July 2010. Mr Cockerill served as a non-executive director from 1 October 2007 to 28 March 2010.
Mr Cockerill began his mining career as a geologist in 1975 and commenced working for Anglo American Corporation (AAC) in 1979 and managed Elandsrand and Western Deep Levels West Mines before being promoted to technical director AAC Cold Division in 1996. In 1998 he became Executive Director – Business Development, and was responsible for global growth through exploration and acquisition for AngloGold Limited.
In 1999 he held the position of Executive Officer, African International Operations. Later that year Mr Cockerill joined Gold Fields Limited as Managing Director as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for all global operations before his appointment in 2002 as Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields Limited. He also held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Coal Limited from June 2008 to December 2009.
Lebo Mogotsi was appointed a non-executive director of Petmin from January 2004, becoming an executive director and Deputy Chairman of the Company on 30 November 2005. She is chairman of the Board’s Transformation Committee. For three years until February 2008, she was an independent non-executive director of Merafe Resources Limited (formerly SA Chrome Limited), a junior mining company listed on the JSE, where she also chaired the Transformation Committee.
Ms Mogotsi gained experience in gold beneficiation at AngloGold Ashanti Limited where she held two portfolios: Marketing Manager: Beneficiation and Executive Assistant to the Executive Director: Marketing.
Jan du Preez, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer on 1 February 2006, qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte & Touche in 1990 and has a Master of Commerce degree in Financial Management (including the field of mergers and acquisitions). He has been involved as an entrepreneur in various aspects of the mining industry and, among other positions, was an executive director of JIC Mining (Pty) Ltd (JIC) for approximately eight years. Employing some 20 000 people, JIC was the largest mining services company in South Africa during that time. Mr Du Preez has been part of the Petmin management team since 1992, and has facilitated various black economic empowerment transactions in mining and other industries.
Bradley Doig was appointed a non-executive director of Petmin from 30 November 2005, becoming Chief Operating Officer in February 2006. He was previously an executive director and Chief Investment Officer of Decorum Capital Partners, the fund manager for the New Africa Mining Fund (NAMF). During a 10-year stint with BHP Billiton Limited, Mr Doig’s experience included international business development and strategy for Samancor Manganese. He also spent time at merchant bank Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in the United Kingdom and was an executive with the IQ Business Group.
Bruce Tanner joined the Petmin Group in 2005 as Group Financial Manager and Chief Financial Officer and was appointed Financial Director on 1 July 2009. He has served on the Petmin Executive Committee since joining the group.
He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor of Accounting Science (BCompt) (Hons) degree (CTA) from the University of South Africa (Unisa), and qualified as a chartered accountant while serving articles at Deloitte in South Africa.
He has a wealth of experience in mining finance and administration, including five years' involvement in the marketing of coal and copper. From June 2002 to November 2004, he was Chief Financial Officer of AfriOre Limited and Chief Operating Officer of its coal operations. During this period the company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and had exploration and mining projects in Africa.
Enrico Greyling was appointed a non-executive director on 1 February 2004. He is also a non-executive director of a number of PSG Group Limited subsidiaries as well as various private companies, and a director of Venmyn.
Prior to becoming active at PSG, Mr Greyling was a director of FBC Fidelity Bank which is now part of Nedcor Limited. He also served on the board of RMB Holdings Limited as an executive prior to its merger with First Rand Limited. During his career as a banker he was, for a time, a board member of the Banking Council of South Africa.
Alwyn Martin was appointed a non-executive director on 30 November 2005. He represents Dark Capital (Pty) Ltd and is the former chairman of Vodacom Group (Pty) Ltd and a former Chief Executive of Siemens Telecommunications in South Africa. He currently holds a number of directorships in the private health and financial industries, and is also an independent non-executive director of Trans Hex Group Limited.
Johan Strijdom was appointed a non-executive director in February 2004. A businessman and farmer, he was a founding shareholder and director of JIC. He was also a director of Petrex until its sale to EAGC Ventures Limited. He is a director of a number of private companies.
John Taylor was appointed a non-executive director in September 2006. He is a director of Decorum Capital Partners, the fund manager for NAMF.
Mr Taylor has 29 years’ experience with BHP Billiton as a senior metallurgist. His production experience includes gold, uranium, copper, iron ore, sulphuric acid production, lead and alloys, ferromanganese, silicon metal, zinc and manganese metals. He has extensive experience (as a project director) ranging from feasibility studies (including research and development management) to design, construction, commissioning and operations.
© 2009 Petmin Limited
develop a group culture of disciplined thought and action
Petmin's executive management team: from top left Bradley Doig, Jan du Preez, Bruce Tanner, Lebo Mogotsi