Executive Management

Mr. Johnson has over 40 years of mining industry experience with the majority of his experience focused on the development of diamond deposits in Brazil, Central and South Africa and Canada. He was responsible for the acquisition, financing and development of the Braúna diamond mine. Ken has been active in Brazil for 20 years and is one of the leading diamond experts in that country. He was the founding director of Lipari Mineração Ltda. and has been President and Chief Executive Officer of the Brazil-registered company since 2011. He was also Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Vaaldiam Mining Inc. from 2010 to 2012, a TSX-listed company that was formed as a result of a merger between Tiomin Resources Inc. and Vaaldiam Resources Ltd. Prior to that merger, Ken was President and Chief Executive Officer of Vaaldiam Resources Ltd. (1997-2010), a TSX-listed company that he formed in 1997 to develop diamond deposits in central and southern Africa, and in Brazil. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Caussa Capital Corporation (1999 to 2003) which operated the Barberton Gold Mine in South Africa, and was Executive Vice-President of Asquith Resources Inc. (1986 to 1999) which discovered the Passandro gold deposits in the Central African Republic. During that same period (1986 to 1999), Ken was the Executive Vice-President of United Reef Limited and was responsible for the discovery and development of the Bamingui alluvial diamond deposit in joint venture with the Trans Hex Group of South Africa. Between 1982 and 1986, Ken was a senior project geologist with ACA Howe International Ltd. and a project geologist in the minerals division of AMOCO Canada Petroleum Company Ltd. Ken holds a B.Sc. degree in geology from the University of Windsor, Canada and has completed certification courses in South Africa and Canada related to the valuation of natural diamonds.  Mr. Johnson is fluent in English (native) and has an advanced level of fluency in Portuguese

Mr. Mariz holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas, an accounting degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the Centro Universitário UNIFEMM, in Brazil.  He started his career in the mineral industry, while he was completing his undergraduate studies as an accounting analyst for the Brazilian subsidiary of Vaaldiam Resources Ltd., a TSX-listed diamond producer.  He was later promoted in 2010 to the position of a senior accounting analyst with Vaaldiam.  In 2012, Vaaldiam was acquired, and Mr. Mariz as transferred to LML, where he assumed the role of Senior Finance and Costs Manager, a position he held until February 2022 when he was promoted to the position of Finance Director of LML’s parent company, LDM.  With both LDM and LML, Mr. Mariz has been responsible for the preparation of financial statements under IFRS, the implementation of internal controls, financial planning, audits, budgeting and cost analyses. Mr. Mariz has played a key role in negotiating LML’s debt financing facilities in Brazil, and structuring LDM’s equity financings.  Since 2023, Mr. Mariz has been responsible for the management of LDM’s finance team in Canada, Brazil and Angola, and has worked closely with Mr. Ramsden, LDM’s Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Ramsden has agreed to be retained as an independent financial consultant to assist Mr. Mariz in his transition into the role of Chief Financial Officer of LDM.  Mr. Mariz is fluent in Portuguese (native) and English.

Christian graduated with a degree in Geology from the University of Brasília, Brazil.  He started work in diamond exploration as a student in the 1990s, as a trainee with De Beers in the Chapada Diamantina area of Bahia state.  He has 22 years of mining industry experience, most of which has been focused on diamond exploration in Brazil.  Christian was instrumental in the development of the Braúna diamond mine, having worked on the property during its early stages of exploration, and supervising its development and mine construction.  Prior to his experience at Braúna, Christian worked on kimberlite exploration properties with Vaaldiam Resources and Rio Tinto in western Brazil.  Mr. Schobbenhaus is fluent in Portuguese (native) and has an advanced level of fluency in English.

Aguinaldo holds a postgraduate degree in tax accounting and is a licensed accountant in Brazil. He has over 27 years of mining industry experience and is responsible for managing and supervising Lipari’s accounting department. He is also responsible for preparing the Company’s financial statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards required by listed companies.