Arc Minerals announced on Thursday that Rio Tinto's former head of African, South American and European mining operations, Don Bailey, has been appointed as a director at Arc effective 1 June.
According to AIM-traded mineral exploration company Arc, Bailey's 30 years at Rio Tinto features a number of high-profile projects including development at the Escondida mine in Chile, the Moro d'Oro mine in Brazil and the Neves Corvo mine in Portugal.

He also held directorships at multiple Rio Tinto international companies including Palabora Mining and Rossing Uranium in Africa.

Since his time with Rio Tinto, Bailey acted as chief executive and chairman of LionOre Mining International, a firm which during his tenure developed from a startup to a mid-tier mining firm until is acquisition by Norilsk Nickel in 2007.

Nick von Schirnding, executive chairman of Arc Minerals, said: "Don Bailey brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the ARC board both in the corporate and operational arenas with more than 50 years in the industry. Since late last year I have been working closely with Don and I have been greatly impressed by his drive and energy."

The company said Bailey's main responsibility will be to lead the development of its Zambian subsidiary Zamsort's commercial scale demonstration plant processing copper.

Don Bailey said: "I am very pleased to be joining the board of Arc Minerals as they deliver on what is a major transformation of the company. My starting point when I joined LionOre is in many respects similar to where Arc Minerals stands today and I look forward to working closely with Nick and his team to take the company to the next level."

As of 1221 BST, Arc Minerals' shares were up 9.41% at 3.72p.

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