London-listed Kenmare Resources has appointed Tom Hickey as FD, with effect from September 26.

He will also be appointed as an executive director to the board on the same date.

Hickey will succeed Tony McCluskey who, earlier this year, announced his intention to retire from the company. McCluskey will step down from the board and his role as FD on September 26 but will continue to be employed by the company for a period to facilitate the transfer of responsibilities to Hickey and to assist the company with various other matters.

Hickey’s appointment follows a thorough search process led by the nominations committee, in conjunction with an independent executive search firm, the company says.

It notes that he brings considerable financial and natural resources experience to Kenmare, having served for 15 years as executive director of various public companies.

This includes eight years as CFO of the Africa and South America-focused oil and gas producer Tullow Oil from 2000 to 2008.

During this time, he developed and implemented the financial strategy that saw Tullow grow from a micro-cap company to a FTSE 100 business valued at $15-billion. He was central to the success of major acquisitions and debt and equity fundings, as well as responsible for capital allocation of a yearly budget of over $700-million, Kenmare outlines.

It notes that Hickey has strong board-level experience, currently serving as an independent nonexecutive director with United Oil & Gas.

He has a BCom degree and a Diploma in Professional Accounting, both from University College Dublin, and he is a Fellow of the Irish Institute of Chartered Accountants.

“I am delighted to welcome Tom to Kenmare’s management team. He is a well-known figure in the natural resources industry and his extensive financial, strategic and capital markets experience will be highly complementary to our current executive capabilities.

“I would like to thank Tony again for his tremendous contribution to Kenmare over the 31 years he has been part of the team. He will be deeply missed by his friends and colleagues within the company and we are grateful that he will work closely with Tom over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition,” Kenmare MD Michael Carvill says.