PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining giant BHP Billiton on Tuesday announced four additional appointments to the proposed board of directors for corporate spin-off South32.

The diversified miner has named Frank Cooper, Peter Kukielski, Futhi Mtoba and Wayne Osborn as nonexecutive directors to the South32 board, subject to shareholder approval of the proposed demerger on May 6.

The new members would join chairperson-elect David Crawford, CEO-elect Graham Kerr (executive director), Keith Rumble (independent nonexecutive director) and Xolani Mkhwanazi (nonexecutive director).

The initial composition of the South32 board would reflect a range of geographical backgrounds including Australia, South Africa and the UK.

“The addition of these four individuals to the future South32 board further enhances the extensive mining, exploration commercial and financial expertise of our board. The appointments bring broad international business experience across multiple industries, with a particular focus on finance, processing and mining,” Crawford commented.

Cooper (from Australia) has more than 35 years experience in accounting, and has served as director of Australia’s Woodside since February 2013. Kukielski (from the UK) was the executive-in-residence at Warburg Pincus, following a long career in mining, most recently as CE for mining at ArcelorMittal. Mtoba (from South Africa) was the chairperson of Deloitte Southern Africa and also a past president of Business Unity South Africa. Osborn (from Australia) is currently a director for Wesfarmers, Iluka Resources and Alinta Holdings, and has 35 years experience in the Australian resources and manufacturing sectors.

If BHP Billiton shareholders approve the demerger, the South32 director appointments would take effect from May 7.

South32 will contain aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel and silver assets, worth an estimated $26-billion. Ricus Grimbeek is the president and COO-elect for South32 Australia and would be based in Perth. Mike Fraser is the president and COO-elect for South32 Africa and would be based in Johannesburg.