| Wed 7 Oct 2009, 14:30 | | RDI - Rockwell - Board Changes |
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RDI
RDI
RDI - Rockwell - Board Changes
Rockwell Diamonds Inc.
(A company incorporated in accordance with the laws of British Columbia, Canada)
(Incorporation number BCO354545)
(Formerly Rockwell Ventures Inc.)
(South African registration number: 2007/031582/10)
Share code on the JSE Limited: RDI ISIN: CA77434W1032
Share code on the TSX: RDI CUSIP Number: 77434W103
Share code on the OTCBB: RDIAF
("Rockwell")
ROCKWELL APPOINTS NEW INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS
October 7, 2009, Vancouver, B.C. - Rockwell Diamonds Inc. ("Rockwell" or the
"Company") (TSX: RDI; JSE: RDI; OTCBB: RDIAF) announces the appointment of two
new independent Directors.
Rockwell is pleased to announce that it has appointed independent Directors Mr.
Richard Linnell and Dr. Willem Jacobs to its board effective September 31, 2009.
They replace Mr. Terry Janes and Mr. Gregory Radke who resigned from the
Rockwell Board in June 2009.
Richard Linnell has been active in the mineral resources business for nearly 40
years and has significant experience in the international and South African
resources and commodities business. He joined Middelburg Steel & Alloys as
Marketing Manager for the Stainless Steel division in 1985 and was subsequently
involved in the establishment of the Columbus Stainless Steel Project.
Thereafter, he became General Manager of the Manganese Division of Samancor, a
joint venture between the then Billiton Plc and the Anglo American Corporation.
Samancor held a dominant global position in the manganese and chrome markets.
He subsequently moved on to head Billiton Plc`s Exploration and Development
activities within Africa, and gained considerable experience in Guinea,
Mauritania, Sudan, Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and South
Africa.
Mr. Linnell retired from BHP Billiton in 2001 and made a successful transition
to the junior exploration and mining sector where he has been involved in the
development, management, corporate activities, and capital raising of and for
several private and listed junior and mid-tier exploration and mining companies.
His roles in these companies has included positions as non-Executive Chairman
and Director of companies listed on the Sydney, Toronto, London and Johannesburg
stock exchanges. Aside from his extensive corporate and operational experience,
Mr. Linnell has considerable experience of the regulatory and policy framework
in South Africa and as non-Executive Chairman of Coal Africa has been part of
ground breaking team which has developed innovative models for operating in
remote and environmentally sensitive areas, developing partnerships with local
communities, and implementing successful Social and Labour Plan benefits.
Mr. Linnell has a BSc (Honours) London External Degree from the University
College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which was then an External London College.
Dr. Willem Jacobs has over 25 years experience in the engineering, mining and
investment sectors, including 20 years in executive management and board level
positions of private and public companies. His operational experience includes
automotive engineering, and mining, production, marketing, product development,
company positioning for low grade industrial mineral deposits and producers,
alluvial diamond evaluation, and base metal exploration. He has worked in
Africa, and globally in complex multi-cultural environments and has good working
knowledge of people, systems, and legal frameworks in North and South America,
Australia, the Far East including China, the Middle East, Japan and India. His
experience includes a proven track record in corporate turnarounds, mergers and
acquisitions, and post acquisition alignment and optimizations of combined
business entities.
He joined Price Waterhouse in 1984 as a Principal Consultant, managed the
Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice in Johannesburg, and was Executive
Director of Cullinan Holdings Limited from 1990 to 1995. During the latter
period he was also CEO of Cullinan Precision Engineering, Chairman of Cullinan
Minerals, and Chairman of Sud Chemie (SA), a joint venture between Sud Chemie
(Germany) and Cullinan Holdings Limited. He was Managing Director of automotive
company ABB Flexible Automation from 1996 to 1998, and CEO of IMERYS Africa and
Australia from 1998 to March 2001. From 2001 to early 2007 he served as a non-
executive director of industrial minerals company Europe Minerals Bv, and was
Country Manager of Teal Mining and Exploration activities in the Democratic
Republic of Congo ("DRC") from 2007 until December 2008. He is currently a
Director and Operations Manager of Congo Supply and Maintenance s.p.r.l. which
is active in minerals exploration in the DRC.
Dr. Jacobs completed an Honours degree in Public Law at the University of the
Orange Free State in 1982, a Master of Commerce at Rand Afrikaans University in
1985, and a PhD in Economics at the University of South Africa in 1998.
Research and course work for his Masters in Commerce and PhD degrees were
completed at Duke University and Wharton Business School in the USA
respectively. He also completed specialist courses in mergers, acquisitions, and
strategy at Wharton.
President and CEO John Bristow stated, "We are excited to have attracted two
dynamic and highly experienced new directors to our Board. Richard and Willem
provide a unique mix of operational, developmental, capital raising, financial
management, small company start-up, restructuring, merger and acquisitions, and
strategy which will stand Rockwell in great stead as it emerges from the
challenges of the economic recession and refocuses its strategy to become a
world-class junior alluvial diamond miner. We look forward to the guidance and
contributions of these gentlemen in the implementation of Rockwell`s growth and
consolidation plans over the next few years."
For further details on Rockwell Diamonds Inc., please visit the Company`s
website at ww.rockwelldiamonds.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-
6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114.
John Bristow
President and CEO
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in
this news release.
Canada
7 October 2009
Sponsor
Sasfin Capital (a division of Sasfin Bank Limited)
Date: 07/10/2009 14:30:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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