Ora Banda Mining Limited announced that Mr. John Richards has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Ora Banda with effect from 1 May 2026. It is currently anticipated that Mr. Richards will assume the role of Chair from Peter Mansell who has indicated he will retire from the Board at the close of the 2026 Annual General Meeting to be held in November. Mr. Richards brings 40 years of experience in the global mining and metals sectors as an executive and Non-Executive Director across multiple jurisdictions.
John is currently Non-Executive Chair of copper mining and exploration company Sandfire Resources Ltd. and is the Lead Independent Non-Executive Director of mineral sands focused Sheffield Resources Ltd. John has previously held directorships with gold producers Northern Star Resources Ltd. and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd, where he served on the exploration and growth committees with responsibility for capital allocation decisions relating to exploration and organic and inorganic growth. He has also previously held a non-executive director position at the precious and base metals producer Adriatic Metals plc. In his executive career, he was Managing Director of ASX-listed Buka Minerals Limited which held base and precious metals projects prior to its three-way merger to create London stock exchange listed Scarborough Minerals plc.
John also held leadership roles with Normandy Mining Ltd. which became Australia's largest gold producer following a decade of acquisitions and transactions, before being acquired by Newmont Mining in 2002, and has worked in investment banking, as Head of Mining and Metals Advisory (Australia) at Standard Bank, and in private equity, as Operating Partner at GNRI. John holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Queensland.
