{"id":1175113,"date":"2020-03-31T10:34:03","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T16:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1018771"},"modified":"2020-03-31T10:34:03","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T16:34:03","slug":"petra-diamonds-founder-steps-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1175113","title":{"rendered":"Petra Diamonds founder steps down"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adonis-poroulis.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1018778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adonis-poroulis.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adonis-poroulis-300x265.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/adonis-poroulis-768x678.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption>Founder Adonis Pouroulis. (<em>Image courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Petra_Diamonds\/status\/1206840222006296576\/photo\/1\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Petra Diamonds | Twitter.<\/a><\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) is <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/ir.q4europe.com\/solutions\/petradiamonds\/3144\/newsArticle.aspx?storyid=14651321\" >waving goodbye to Adonis Pouroulis<\/a>, the company\u2019s founder and chairman for the last 23 years.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center d-xs-block d-sm-block d-md-none'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The diamond producer, which\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/blue-diamond-found-by-struggling-petra-sold-for-14-9-million\/\" >dropped the role of chief operating officer in November<\/a>\u00a0because of a management restructuring, said\u00a0Pouroulis is being succeeded by Peter Hill, who was appointed a non-executive director of Petra and chairman-designate in December.<\/p>\n<p>Hill began his career in the gold division of Anglo American, moving later to Rossing Uranium in Namibia, then to London as mining engineer with the then BP Minerals, and finally joining Consolidated Gold Fields.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Adonis Pouroulis, Petra\u2019s founder and chairman for the last 23 years, has been succeeded by Peter Hill.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Petra has been seeking to turn<br \/>\naround its fortunes&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/petra-diamonds-ceo-leave-following-shares-value-dip-debt-increase\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">after piling up debt<\/a>&nbsp;to expand its iconic Cullinan<br \/>\nmine, in South Africa, where the world\u2019s largest-ever diamond was found in<br \/>\n1905.<\/p>\n<p>In September, it&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/petra-diamonds-shares-hit-all-time-low-as-loss-widens\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported&nbsp;a 22% drop in annual profit<\/a>&nbsp;amid falling<br \/>\ndiamond prices and the company\u2019s investment in Cullinan aimed at reviving the<br \/>\naging operation. The company\u2019s share price collapsed to a record low as it also<br \/>\nrevealed it was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/petra-diamonds-ceo-leave-following-shares-value-dip-debt-increase\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">writing down the value of its mines<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Just when the first signs of<br \/>\nstabilization in the sector are starting to appear, the novel coronavirus<br \/>\npandemic forced Petra to halt its production outlook for 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/petra-diamonds-halts-2020-production-guidance-on-covid-19\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">closed its mines in South Africa last week<\/a> for a&nbsp;mandatory 21-day lockdown&nbsp;aimed at slowing the spread of covid-19.<\/p>\n<p>Its remote&nbsp;Williamson&nbsp;diamond&nbsp;mine,<br \/>\nin Tanzania, said Petra, continues to be &#8220;closely monitored&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adonis Pouroulis was the company&rsquo;s founder and chairman for the last 23 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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