Mr James (Jim) Richards
B.Sc. Hons (Geology), MAusIMM
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
Jim Richards is a Perth based company director and geologist with 26 years’ experience in exploration for a wide variety of commodities.
Prior to the ASX listing of Gibb River Diamonds Limited, Mr Richards was the chief executive officer and director of United Minerals Corporation NL (UMC). At UMC, Mr Richards led the technical team that discovered the high grade iron ‘Railway Deposit’ in the Pilbara. BHP Billiton acquired the Railway Deposit in February 2010 by a take-over of UMC for AUD$204 million.
Mr Richards has considerable overseas experience including running his own alluvial diamond dredging operation in Guyana, South America and work on the Omai gold project (that became a major mine) also in Guyana. Other resources work includes operating in Indonesia and two years spent in both Laos and Pakistan.
Previous employers and clients have included Newmont Mining Corporation, BHP Billiton Limited and Woodside Energy Limited. Prior to his geology career, Mr Richards served in the British Army Parachute Regiment with operational experience in Northern Ireland. He was educated at Goldsmiths College, University of London (Geology) and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Jim’s memoir Gold Rush has been published in Australia and the UK.