JSC Polymetal, a leading Russian precious metals producer, is pleased to announce that John O’Reilly has joined the Company’s Board of Directors as an independent non executive director. Mr O’Reilly, whose appointment is effective immediately, will chair Polymetal’s Remuneration and Nomination Committee.

Mr. O'Reilly served as the Chief Executive of Lihir Gold Limited in Papua New Guinea from 1993 to 1998. Following this, he joined Rio Tinto Plc in 1998 as the Head of Gold and Other Minerals, and was later appointed Head of Technology, a position which he held until 2005. Mr. O'Reilly graduated from Imperial College, London University, in 1966 with a BSc in Metallurgy and received his Master of Science degree in mineral process design from Imperial College the following year.

Mr O’Reilly, 61, currently holds several directorships with mining and engineering companies, including: Lion Selectio Group Ltd, AuSelect Limited, Indophil Resources NL, Cambrian Mining plc and Ausenco Ltd.

Following today’s appointment, Polymetal’s Board consists of seven members — Chairman Alexander Mosionzhik, Vitaly Nesis (CEO, Polymetal), Pavel Gratchev (Chief Legal Counsel, Nafta Moskva), Andrei Rodionov (CFO, Nafta Moskva), Nikolai Belykh (CEO, Nafta Moskva), John O’Reilly and Jonathan Best, another independent non-executive director.

Commenting on the appointment, Vitaly Nesis, Polymetal CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome John O’Reilly to the Board. He brings a wealth of industry experience and will make an invaluable contribution to the Board. John is the second independent non-executive director to join our Board and this reflects our ongoing commitment to corporate governance”.

Source: the official web-site of the company.