By Roshan Thomas and Sneha Kumar
(Reuters) -Australia’s Mineral Resources on Monday named outsider Malcolm Bundey as non-executive chair, replacing James McClements after a decade in the role and sending shares of the lithium miner down 9% amid a broader governance shake-up.
Bundey is currently the deputy chair at brick manufacturer Brickworks and has previously worked as a managing director and executive chief at packaging solutions provider Pact Group.
The mining services provider plunged 8.8% to A$24.08 in its weakest trading session in nearly five weeks, after tumbling as much as 10.2% earlier in the session, making it one of the benchmark’s worst performers.
“I would say his lack of mining experience could be driving the sell-off today, but he is surrounded by a highly mining-experienced board and leadership team,” said Grady Wulff, market analyst at Bell Direct.
“His experience and role to play comes through the extensive management and leadership skills he has,” added Wulff.
The billionaire Chris Ellison-founded company has been trying to rebuild its tarnished image following scandals last year tied to its founder, which led to a string of board departures.
The Onslow Iron Ore project haulage road in Western Australia will be a priority for the new management due to several incidents which have impacted the performance of the project, Wulff said.
In March, the company restarted haulage operations after a week following a road train accident.
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas and Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Comments