SourcingFeb 18, 2025
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Diamond Mining Company CEO Steps Down Amid Sales Slump, Layoffs
Petra Diamonds Ltd. CEO Richard Duffy resigned as the diamond miner reported a 30 percent drop in sales to start its fiscal year.
Petra Diamonds’ CEO Richard Duffy resigned Monday as the company announced a steep decline in first-half sales. Petra operated four diamond mines, including Finsch in South Africa (pictured), but is offloading two of them in an effort to cut costs and shore up losses. (Photo courtesy of Petra Diamonds Ltd.)
London—The CEO of Petra Diamonds Ltd. stepped down Monday, the same day the mining company announced a 30 percent drop in sales in the first half of its fiscal year.
Richard Duffy resigned as both CEO and director of Petra, effective immediately, and will be replaced by joint interim CEOs.
Vivek Gadodia, who joined Petra in 2021 and most recently served as its chief restructuring officer, will have responsibility over corporate matters, while Juan Kemp, currently operations executive at the Cullinan mine, will oversee all Petra’s operations.
Gadodia spent about 15 years working in engineering, project management, and on the corporate side at energy company Sasol before joining Petra.
Kemp has more than 30 years’ experience in mining, coming to Petra from De Beers in 2009 when Petra purchased the Cullinan mine. Prior to his time at De Beers, Kemp worked at Anglo Gold in the East Rand Gold and Uranium Division.
“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Richard for his hard work and dedication as CEO since he joined Petra in 2019. We wish Richard all the best for the future,” said José Manuel Vargas, chair of the company’s board of directors.
“The board looks forward to working with [Gadodia and Kemp] on the delivery of Petra’s near-term objectives, in particular the refinancing of its debt.”
Duffy’s resignation comes amid what Petra described as a “prolonged period of weakness in the diamond market,” and layoffs at mining companies industrywide.
Petra previously announced plans to lay off about 200 workers, a move South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) called “unacceptable” in a statement released last week.
“NUM is worried about these impending retrenchments at both the Cullinan and Finsch mines,” the union said.
“NUM has observed with serious concern that the majority of mining companies that are retrenching workers around the country are replacing them with contract workers. This is capitalist barbarism at its best.”
In Botswana, English-language newspaper Mmegi reported that Debswana, the joint venture between De Beers Group and the Botswana government, worked with the union to offer voluntary separations, with Debswana accepting about 500 of the requests it received.
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Richard Duffy resigned as both CEO and director of Petra, effective immediately, and will be replaced by joint interim CEOs.
Vivek Gadodia, who joined Petra in 2021 and most recently served as its chief restructuring officer, will have responsibility over corporate matters, while Juan Kemp, currently operations executive at the Cullinan mine, will oversee all Petra’s operations.
Gadodia spent about 15 years working in engineering, project management, and on the corporate side at energy company Sasol before joining Petra.
Kemp has more than 30 years’ experience in mining, coming to Petra from De Beers in 2009 when Petra purchased the Cullinan mine. Prior to his time at De Beers, Kemp worked at Anglo Gold in the East Rand Gold and Uranium Division.
“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Richard for his hard work and dedication as CEO since he joined Petra in 2019. We wish Richard all the best for the future,” said José Manuel Vargas, chair of the company’s board of directors.
“The board looks forward to working with [Gadodia and Kemp] on the delivery of Petra’s near-term objectives, in particular the refinancing of its debt.”
Duffy’s resignation comes amid what Petra described as a “prolonged period of weakness in the diamond market,” and layoffs at mining companies industrywide.
Petra previously announced plans to lay off about 200 workers, a move South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) called “unacceptable” in a statement released last week.
“NUM is worried about these impending retrenchments at both the Cullinan and Finsch mines,” the union said.
“NUM has observed with serious concern that the majority of mining companies that are retrenching workers around the country are replacing them with contract workers. This is capitalist barbarism at its best.”
In Botswana, English-language newspaper Mmegi reported that Debswana, the joint venture between De Beers Group and the Botswana government, worked with the union to offer voluntary separations, with Debswana accepting about 500 of the requests it received.
News of Duffy’s resignation was announced as Petra reported its results for the first half of fiscal year 2025, ended Dec. 31.
The company sold 1.1 million carats of diamonds in the period, a 28 percent drop from 1.5 million in the first half of FY 2024, while the average realized price per carat fell slightly to $103 from $106.
Revenue was down 30 percent year-over-year to $115 million from $164 million in the first half of FY 2024.
Petra said the decline was “largely due” to pushing the sale of about $50 million in rough diamonds from FY 2023 into the first half of FY 2024, making for more difficult comps.
The company’s net losses after tax totaled $69 million in the first half of FY2025, compared with $11 million in the prior-year period.
Petra once operated four diamond mines: Cullinan, Finsch, Williamson, and Koffiefontein.
In October, it received the necessary approval to sell Koffiefontein to an affiliate of Stargems Group, saving it $23 million in closure-related costs.
In January, Petra entered into an agreement to sell its share in the pink-producing Williamson diamond mine in Tanzania to Pink Diamonds Investment Ltd. for a headline consideration of up to $16 million.
Pink Diamonds is an affiliate of Taifa, the Tanzanian-owned company that is the country’s largest mining contractor.
The transaction is subject to regulatory and lender approvals. Petra said it expects the deal to close in the first quarter of calendar year 2025.
“These steps, together with the restructuring plan of the business that is underway, are intended to ensure that Petra is a focused, resilient company able to withstand pricing weakness, while positioning for upside in stronger markets,” the company said.
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