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Bruce Cleaver Is Gemfields’ New Chair
The former De Beers CEO will step into the role next month.
Bruce Cleaver, who led De Beers from 2016 until 2023, has joined Gemfields’ board as chair, effective July 1.
London—Gemfields announced it has appointed former De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver as chair and independent non-executive director.
“Bruce’s reputation as a preeminent leader is well documented and he brings considerable experience of mining gemstones in Africa and marketing them internationally,” said Gemfields.
Cleaver joined De Beers in 2016 and headed the company for more than six years, overseeing the launch of Lightbox and the creation of blockchain platform Tracr among other key initiatives.
His position with Gemfields will begin July 1.
Cleaver noted parallels between the how the two mining companies deliver consistent and reliable supply.
“Gemfields is a unique and extraordinary business, one that has taken a fragmented and fairly informal industry to considerable sophistication as the first consistent supplier of significant quantities of colored gemstones in a responsible and transparent manner,” he said.
“The colored gemstone market has long-transcended the arrival of its lab-grown counterparts, with lab-grown rubies having been around for more than 120 years.”
Cleaver noted he looks forward to working with the Gemfields team to prepare the company for its next stage of growth, which includes the construction of a new processing plant at Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada, the company’s ruby mine in Mozambique.
The new plant, designed to triple throughput capacity, is scheduled to be completed during the first half of 2025, he said.
Cleaver will also become chair of the nomination committee.
He will succeed Martin Tolcher, who has served as a board member since 2008 and as chair since 2019.
“I am truly delighted to have such a remarkable successor in Bruce and am confident that Gemfields will go from strength to strength under his stewardship,” Tolcher said.
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“Bruce’s reputation as a preeminent leader is well documented and he brings considerable experience of mining gemstones in Africa and marketing them internationally,” said Gemfields.
Cleaver joined De Beers in 2016 and headed the company for more than six years, overseeing the launch of Lightbox and the creation of blockchain platform Tracr among other key initiatives.
His position with Gemfields will begin July 1.
Cleaver noted parallels between the how the two mining companies deliver consistent and reliable supply.
“Gemfields is a unique and extraordinary business, one that has taken a fragmented and fairly informal industry to considerable sophistication as the first consistent supplier of significant quantities of colored gemstones in a responsible and transparent manner,” he said.
“The colored gemstone market has long-transcended the arrival of its lab-grown counterparts, with lab-grown rubies having been around for more than 120 years.”
Cleaver noted he looks forward to working with the Gemfields team to prepare the company for its next stage of growth, which includes the construction of a new processing plant at Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada, the company’s ruby mine in Mozambique.
The new plant, designed to triple throughput capacity, is scheduled to be completed during the first half of 2025, he said.
Cleaver will also become chair of the nomination committee.
He will succeed Martin Tolcher, who has served as a board member since 2008 and as chair since 2019.
“I am truly delighted to have such a remarkable successor in Bruce and am confident that Gemfields will go from strength to strength under his stewardship,” Tolcher said.
Additionally, Simon Scott will join the board as independent non-executive director, and Kieran Daly will join the board as non-executive director.
Scott will also join the audit committee and the nomination committee, and he will also chair the risk council.
Scott, who was previously chief financial officer at British producer of platinum group metals Lonmin plc (formerly Lonrho plc), is also a non-executive director of First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Sylvania Platinum Ltd.
Daly is currently an alternate director to Patrick Sacco on the Gemfields board, and he holds board-level roles in other mining companies, including at Australia-based Atlantic Lithium Ltd.
Daly is managing director of mining holding company Assore International Holdings, which holds a 29 percent holding in Gemfields, and a growth and strategic development executive at Assore Holdings.
Kwape Mmela, Gemfields’ independent non-executive director, chair of the remuneration committee, and a member of the nomination committee, will become lead independent non-executive director and join the audit committee.
All new appointees will step into their new roles July 1.
Lead Independent Non-Executive Director Lumkile Mondi and Independent Non-Executive Director Carel Malan are resigning, also effective July 1.
Mondi, as well as Tolcher, signaled last year that they were entering their final terms in office on the Gemfields board.
Malan will focus on his now permanent role at Ore & Metal Company Ltd., a subsidiary of Assore Holdings.
“Martin, Lumkile, and Carel have all provided invaluable contributions to the company during their respective tenures on Gemfields’ board,” the company said.
Gemfields’ annual general meeting will take place June 25.
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