Jean-Raymond Boulle

Jean-Raymond Boulle, COR (born 10 October 1950)[1] is the founder of four publicly traded companies with deposits of nickel, cobalt, copper, zinc, titanium and diamonds.[2]

Jean-Raymond Boulle
Born (1950-10-10) 10 October 1950
Mauritius
NationalityMauritian
Known forDiscoverer of Voisey's Bay Mine

Career

Early career

Boulle worked for the De Beers Diamond Trading Company (DTC) for ten years, in Zaire, Sierra Leone and Antwerp, Belgium, and then established Boulle Inc. in Dallas, Texas.[3]

In 1984 he began exploring for diamonds, first in Minnesota, then in Arkansas. In 1987 he formed Arkansas Diamond Development Co., to carry out exploration work on the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.[4] He claimed there were $5 billion worth of diamonds there, but in 1996 it was halted as it was found to be not worth mining.[5]

Diamond Fields

Boulle was chairman, founder and CEO as well as a major shareholder of Diamond Fields (Diamond Fields Resources Inc. TSE:DFR)[6] which commenced trading on the Vancouver Stock Exchange on 6 April 1993 and, in late 1994, discovered nickel, copper and cobalt ore bodies at Voisey's Bay Mine in Labrador, Canada. The Voisey's Bay Mine deposit was estimated to contain 141 million tonnes at 1.6% nickel.[7] Boulle and Robert Friedland worked together in Diamond Fields and, in 1996, the Voisey's Bay Mine Project was purchased by Inco for CND$4.3 billion.[6][8] Boulle's next company, Diamond Fields International is involved in sea floor mining with interests in mining deposits around the world.[9][10][11]

American Mineral Fields

His Boulle Mining Group[12] is headquartered in Luxembourg and in 1995 founded American Mineral Fields (later renamed Adastra Minerals), listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange. Adastra Minerals developed mining projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a joint venture with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to re-treat the Kolwezi tailings project. Adastra Minerals was purchased in August 2006 by First Quantum Minerals, a mining company then with dual listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange[13] and the London Stock Exchange (until 31 May 2016).[14] In 2001, Boulle Mining Group Luxembourg acquired the Sierra Rutile Project (a producer of natural rutile) and of the Sierra Minerals SML Bauxite Mine in Sierra Leone, West Africa which became part of Titanium Resources Group, taken public on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market in August 2005.[15]

His mining group's subsidiary company, Greenland Gold Resources Ltd[16] is in Greenland exploring for nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum group elements, titanium and graphite.[17]

Other work

Boulle Mining Group Luxembourg was the largest shareholder in World Titanium Resources,[18] the Australian Securities Exchange listed[19] discoverers and owners of the Toliara Sands[20] titanium deposit in Madagascar. World Titanium Resources was delisted from ASX on 30 January 2017 and is now privately owned as World Titane Holdings Limited.[21][22] In December 2017, Base Resources signed a $75m agreement to acquire an 85% interest in the Toliara Sands project in Madagascar from World Titane Holdings Limited.[23][24]

Together with the Government of Mauritius, Boulle is one of the three controlling shareholders of Omnicane,[25] a publicly listed company on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. Omnicane owns sugarcane plantations in Mauritius and produces refined sugar. Omnicane also generates around 30% of the island's electricity for the Grid and 40% of the country's renewable bagasse-based energy.[26][27]

In December 2014, Boulle's company Tendyne Holdings Inc. announced the first successful human Mitral Valve implant at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, England.[28][29]

In September 2015, an agreement was reached with Abbott Laboratories to acquire Tendyne Holdings Inc.for a total consideration of US$400 million ($250M plus regulatory-based milestones), excluding Abbott Laboratories’ existing 10% of the company. [30][31]

In February 2020, the Tendyne transcatheter mitral heart valve implant which Boulle's Tendyne Holdings Inc. had developed received CE Mark approval from the European Union and became the world's first commercially available solution for Mitral Valve Replacement Technology. [32][33]

Controversy

Boulle has been accused of profiting from Africa's misery (1998) and manipulating African governments (2000),[34][5] with one of his companies, America Mineral Fields included in a draft of a UN report on the illegal exploitation of resources from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[35][36] The United Nations Report S/2003/1027 sent by United Nations Secretary General Kofi A. Annan to the Security Council on 23 October 2003 later removed the names of several companies, including America Mineral Fields.[37][38]

Personal life

Boulle is a Mauritian citizen, and lives in Monaco. He is married and has two children.[39][40]

Honours

In 2007, Boulle was made a Commander of the Order of the Rokel, the highest order of merit of Sierra Leone for contributions to the economy of Sierra Leone through the establishment of a titanium and a bauxite mine after the civil war.[2]

See also

References
  1. McNish, J. (1998). The Big Score. Doubleday Canada. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-385-25758-9. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  2. "Sierra Leone to award Titanium Resources founder with its highest honour". International Mining. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  3. "Mr. Boulle got his start in the business working in Africa for De Beers". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
  4. "Arkansas Allowing 4 Companies To Explore Public Diamond Mine". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 December 2017.
  5. "Friends in high places". Forbes. 10 August 1998. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. "Diamond Fields International Ltd. - Management – Thu Mar 23, 2017". Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  7. Voisey's Bay Discovery
  8. "The story of Voisey's Bay – the auction 'the total value' of the Voiseys bay deal was 'closer to $4.3 billion'". Mining.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
  9. "Metalliferous Sediments in the Atlantis II Deep". Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  10. SciDev.Net. "What might Red Sea mining bring to Saudi Arabia and Sudan?". Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  11. "Diamond Fields International Ltd. - Atlantis II – Thu Mar 23, 2017". Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  12. "Jean-Raymond Boulle – Wikipedia Republished // WIKI 2". Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  13. "Bloomberg : First Quantum Minerals Listing on Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSE")". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
  14. "First Quantum Minerals – FQM NOTICE OF INTENDED DELISTING". London Stock Exchange. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017.
  15. "AUGUST 2005 :'Titanium Resources Group Ltd. on its admission to AIM. The listing allowed the company to re-open its mines in Sierra Leone, restoring the country's position as a significant provider of raw materials to the world markets'". FAEGRE BAKER DANIELS. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
  16. "greenland gold resources News – Investing News Network". Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  17. "Metals and Mining – Company Overview of Boulle Mining Group S.A.R.L." Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
  18. "World Titanium Resources – Home Page – ASX: WTR". Archived from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  19. "Share Price & Information – ASX". Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  20. "World Titanium Resources – Home Page – ASX: WTR". Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  21. "World Titanium Resources To Delist From ASX". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
  22. "Company Overview of World Titane Holdings Limited". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
  23. "Base Resources to gain 85% interest in Toliara Sands, Madagascar". Mining Technology.
  24. "'Base to raise A$100m for Madagascar's Toliara heavy minerals project'". Mining MX.
  25. "Omnicane". Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  26. "Omnicane generates around 30% of the annual electricity generated for the Grid and 40% of the country's renewable bagasse-based energy". Archived from the original on 5 June 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  27. "Omnicane unveils ambitious Mon Trésor Airport City project". Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  28. "'World's first implantation of new heart valve at Royal Brompton Hospital'". NHS Foundation Trust. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
  29. Newswire, PR (2 December 2014). "Tendyne Announces Successful First Human Implants of the Tendyne Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implant (TMVI)". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  30. Alpha, Seeking (30 July 2015). "Abbott buys heart valve maker for $250M". Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  31. Media Room, Abbott (2 September 2015). "ABBOTT COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF TENDYNE HOLDINGS, INC". Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  32. Journal, Wall Street (30 January 2020). "Abbott's Tendyne(TM) Device Receives World's First CE Mark for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation". Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  33. Outreach, Media (3 February 2020). "Jean Boulle Group: European Union Approval for Tendyne Transcatheter Mitral Valve". Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  34. "Secretary General of UN's Letter to Security Council enclosing UN's Expert Panel Report S/2002/1146 dated 15 October 2002 on the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo – ANNEXE I, Nº.9, Page 1" (PDF). United Nations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  35. UN reference draft S/2002/1146, 15 October 2002
  36. Abdel-Fatau Musah; Kayode Fayemi; J. 'Kayode Fayemi (2000). Mercenaries: An African Security Dilemma. Pluto Press. pp. 155–. ISBN 978-0-7453-1471-6.
  37. "Secretary General of UN's Letter to Security Council enclosing Expert Panel Report S/2003/1027 dated 15 October 2003 on the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)- ANNEXE I, Nº. 27, Page 2" (PDF). United Nations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  38. LAURIAN CLEMENCE (31 October 2003). "America Mineral Fields welcomes UN report". Mining Weekly. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  39. Jean Boulle Luxury (16 May 2017). "Unveiling of the Sun King™ Diamond coating". Retrieved 24 June 2017 – via YouTube.
  40. "entrepreneur-mauricien-jean-raymond-boulle". Retrieved 26 June 2017.
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