Alex Kidman
Rainmakers & Potstirrers

Alex Kidman

CEO: Lucapa Diamond Company

www.lucapa.com.au

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‘Alex Kidman is also a bit of an accidental CEO, stepping up into the role after the previous MD resigned last year’

LUCAPA Diamond Company is a bit of an anomaly on the Australian Securities Exchange being one of only two diamond-focused companies. Alex Kidman is also a bit of an accidental CEO, stepping up into the role at the helm after previous managing director Nick Selby stepped down late last year due to ill health. 

Kidman’s elevation from operations manager to CEO comes at an exciting time for the company. Lucapa has a stake in the Lulo diamond mine in Angola, which attracts some of the highest prices per carat for alluvial diamonds globally. The company has received more than $14m in dividends from Lulo. Lucapa also has a 39% interest in the Lulo Kimberlite Exploration Joint Venture, which is exploring for the potential primary source kimberlites at the prolific Lulo concession and owns the Merlin diamond project in the Northern Territory of Australia. It divested its stake in the Mothae diamond mine in Lesotho last year.

 Lucapa’s goals for 2025 include moving to a majority stake of the Lulo Kimberlite Exploration Joint Venture and to accelerate exploration at the Merlin diamond project. The company raised A$3m in late 2024 to fund work at Merlin, which was once owned by Rio Tinto. Assuming the company is successful at Merlin, it will likely move to develop what would be Australia’s only operating diamond mine.

LIFE OF ALEX

With a master’s in science (geology) from the University of Birmingham, Alex Kidman has spent his career to date in the small diamond mining industry. He started off exploring for alluvial diamonds in Angola and joined the Gem Diamonds group in 2006, where he held a number of technical and project management roles. His work took him to Australia, where he worked at the now-defunct Ellendale mine before joining Lucapa in 2017 as group operations manager. He became managing director and CEO in November 2024.

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