By: OrePulse

Tharisa plc, the Johannesburg- and London-listed platinum group metals and chrome producer, has completed a board succession effective October 1, 2026, with founder Loucas Pouroulis stepping down as chairperson to become founding chairperson emeritus, the company said.

Carol Bell succeeds Pouroulis as chairperson. Pouroulis has worked in South Africa's mining sector for more than six decades and received the Lifetime Award at the 2019 South African Chrome Industry Dinner and Awards Ceremony.

Under Pouroulis's leadership, what began as a greenfield project grew into a fully integrated miner and processor of platinum group metals and chrome concentrates, culminating in dual listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2014 and the London Stock Exchange in 2016. That growth coincided with the development of the company's Karo Platinum project in Zimbabwe.

The company announced other senior changes alongside the chairperson transition: David Salter became deputy chairperson, Michelle Taylor was appointed chief corporate and commercial officer, and Roy Murley was named chief operating officer.

Bell said maintaining the company's governance standards would remain central to her approach as chairperson, as she supports management through an underground mining transition at Tharisa's flagship South African operation and through the ramp-up of Karo Platinum, which is intended to bring the Zimbabwean project into sustainable production.

Pouroulis said "good governance means planning succession well before it is needed," and said he was confident in Bell's leadership going forward.