The 20-year veteran of South African and international mining management steps into the Johannesburg-based role following the announcement of expansion work at the company’s Minas Moatize mine in Mozambique’s Tete province.

Pursuant to Karstel’s assumption of the position, Beacon Hill executive chairman Justin Lewis will revert to a non-executive role. David Premraj, a representative of a group of Beacon Hill shareholders, will also join the company board as a non-executive director.

Lewis said the appointments represented a significant step in the development of Beacon Hill as the miner looks to complete its expansion projects and begin production of coking coal.

“Rowan will take over day to day responsibility for the group’s operations, and with the operational management team now solely located in Southern Africa, I will revert to a non-executive role by year end,” he said.

“Additionally, David provides board representation for one of our larger shareholders as well as bringing debt funding expertise. The board is in the final stages of identifying a further non-executive director with coal industry experience and we intend to make an appointment prior to the end of the year.”

The boardroom shakeup comes in the wake of a $US8.85 million loss for the financial year reported last August and increased activity developing Mozambican assets.

Work at Minas Moaztize involves an upgrade of a plant to allow a threefold increase in feed capacity to 1.8 million tonnes per annum of run-of-mine coal.

That expansion will also support the production of hard coking coal with a higher, more consistent yield.

Earlier this year, Beacon Hill entered into a marketing partnership with Vitol Group and continued to chase a place on the Sena Rail Line.