Middlemas, Pearce join Gulfx board

In a case of history repeating, Perth dealmakers Ian Middlemas and Mark Pearce have taken board positions at West Perth-based oil and gas explorer Gulfx Ltd after backing a share placement.

Mr Middlemas has been appointed chair of the company, with Mr Pearce taking on the role of company secretary as well as a non-executive director's role.

Gulfx, formerly New Horizon Energy Ltd, will make a placement of 50 million shares at 4 cents each to raise $2 million, with a free attaching option exerciseable at 8 cents.

Mr Middlemas' company Arredo Pty Ltd will be the largest subscriber to the deal.

The two men also sit on the boards of West Perth-based mineral explorer Indo Mines Ltd, Sydney gold explorer Xenolith Gold Ltd and Perth-based copper company Sovereign Metals Ltd.

Following their appointments, Jack Toby and Robert Nichevich resigned from the board.

The full text of a company announcement is pasted below

Placement

GulfX Limited ("GulfX" or "the Company") advises that it will undertake a share placement to provide working capital and to enable the Company to pursue other opportunities in the resources sector to complement the Company's existing resource assets.

The Company will make a share placement of 50.0 million shares at $0.04 per share to raise $2.0 million, subject to shareholder approval. One free option will also be granted for every share subscribed for no further consideration. These options will be exercisable at $0.08 on or before 31 December 2011.

The placement will be made to eligible investors with the largest participant being Arredo Pty Ltd, a company associated with Mr Ian Middlemas.

Board Changes

The Board has appointed Mr Ian Middlemas as Chairman and Mr Mark Pearce as a non executive director of the Company.

Effectively immediately, Mr Pearce has also replaced Mr Jack Toby as Company Secretary.

Mr Ian Middlemas is a Chartered Accountant and has been in commerce for over twenty years holding senior executive positions and directorships in a number of public companies. He was a Senior Group Executive with the Normandy Group for approximately ten years. Mr Middlemas has considerable corporate, financial and management expertise and is a Member of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Following these changes Mr Robert Nichevich has resigned from the Board effective immediately. The Company extends its appreciation to Mr Nichevich and Mr Toby for their efforts on behalf of the Company.

The Board and Management will continue to focus on creating value from the Company's existing resource assets in the United States, as well as pursuing new opportunities in the resources sector.