Jukes, Caruso to Australasian board as Hedley steps down

Perth-based iron ore hopeful Australasian Resources Ltd has appointed former Theiss Pty Ltd executive Nick Jukes to its board, along with former Snowden Mining consultant Andrew Caruso as managing director, following the resignation of Darren Hedley from the role.

Along with his non-executive director position, Mr Jukes will take on the role of study director at the company's Balmoral South Iron Ore project, 80 kilometres south west of Karratha.

The company re-listed earlier this year after negotiating a funding deal with Chinese steel giant Shougang Corporation for work on the project, which is seen as a key company asset.

Mr Hedley, who resigned due to personal reasons according to a company announcement, has relinquished 7.6 million milestone options in the company exerciseable at $1.18, granted to him at a shareholder meeting in November 2005.

He will remain a consultant to the board.

Options awarded to Mr Hedley in 2006 were worth $4.5 million according to the WA Business News annual renumeration survey published in November, making him one of the state's most heavily rewarded chief executives.

Of the options returned to the company, 4.2 million will be issued to Mr Caruso, contingent on the approval of proposed project finance, environmental approval and commissioning of the processing plant.

Mr Jukes will receive 3 million options contingent on the same criteria.

The full text of a company announcement is pasted below

The Company is pleased Nick Jukes has accepted the invitation to join the Board and looks forward to the significant contribution he will make during the feasibility study period.

Nick is a Civil Engineer with 30 years experience in the engineering, construction and mining sectors and was formerly a senior executive with Thiess Pty Ltd where his roles included Executive General Manager Operations and Executive General Manager Resources Development. Thiess is the largest contract miner in South East Asia, producing in excess of 70 million tonnes per annum of export and domestic coal.

Nick was an Associate Director of Thiess and a Director of a number of companies including Sedgman Ltd until 2006. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia.

During his career with Thiess and BHP, Mr Jukes was actively involved in the planning, development, construction and operation of major coal and metalliferous projects throughout Australia and South East Asia.

The Company welcomes Andrew Caruso to the position of Managing Director. Andrew joined Australasian in July 2006 and has to date been involved in all aspects of the Company's activities including project development and corporate management.

Andrew is a mining engineer with 16 years experience in the Australian and international mining industries. He has considerable experience in various roles in the iron ore, nickel and coal industries, including operations and strategic planning, capital projects and mine management. He also has a Graduate Diploma in Mining Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia.

His significant operational experience includes six years working at BHP and Rio Tinto iron ore operations including two and a half years in management positions covering technical and operational aspects at the West Angelas iron ore mine.

Prior to joining Australasian Resources Ltd in mid-2006, Andrew was Principal Consultant for Snowden Mining Industry Consultants and was responsible for project management and technical review of a number of mine feasibility studies for potential iron ore and nickel projects in Australia and overseas.

SUMMARY

The Company would like to welcome both Andrew and Nick to the Board.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Darren Hedley for his leadership as Managing Director over the past two years and in particular, his contribution towards securing the Balmoral South Iron Ore Project and strategic alliance with Shougang entities. We look forward to his continued ongoing contribution as consultant to the Board.