DevEx Resources (ASX:DEV) appoints Marnie Finlayson as Managing Director

DevEx Resources has announced a leadership transition that places experienced mining executive Marnie Finlayson at the helm as Managing Director from 1 December 2025, following a multi decade career with global miner Rio Tinto and senior roles across a range of Australian resource companies.

Highlights

• Appointment of Marnie Finlayson as Managing Director, effective 1 December 2025

• Career spanning several decades with Rio Tinto in corporate strategy and operations

• Most recent role as Managing Director, Battery Materials, leading Rio Tinto’s battery materials strategy including the Rincon Project acquisition in Argentina

• Prior senior roles across Rio Tinto Iron Ore, Dampier Salt and Robe River, as well as Anglo Coal Australia, Western Metals and Coal and Allied

• Non executive director of ASX 100 gold producer Northern Star Resources since 2022 and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors

• Transition from outgoing Managing Director Todd Ross, who led a reset of DevEx and a comprehensive review of exploration at the Nabarlek Uranium Project and new growth opportunities

• Employment terms comprising fixed remuneration of $350,000 per annum plus superannuation, a short term incentive equal to total fixed remuneration, retention rights up to 9.9 million and a structured long term incentive and option package with vesting linked to shareholder return outcomes

The appointment brings to DevEx a minerals processing engineer who has combined technical training with senior corporate and operational responsibilities, having graduated from the West Australian School of Mines before building a career that has combined strategy, operating model design and frontline asset leadership.

At Rio Tinto she most recently served as Managing Director for battery materials, where she led the development of the group’s battery materials strategy, including the acquisition of the Rincon Project in Argentina.

This role placed her at the centre of the company’s efforts to build a presence in supply chains linked to emerging energy technologies.

Her earlier responsibilities at Rio Tinto included serving as Head of Operating Model, overseeing the development and implementation of a group wide framework that underpins how assets and projects are run, and holding senior operational positions across Rio Tinto Iron Ore, Dampier Salt and Robe River.

Beyond Rio Tinto, she has held senior operational roles with Anglo Coal Australia, Western Metals and Coal and Allied, which provides DevEx with a breadth of commodity and operating environment exposure from large scale iron ore and salt operations through to coal and metals.

The board has also highlighted her broader governance credentials, noting that she is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has been a non executive director of Northern Star Resources, an ASX 100 gold producer, since 2022, as well as being recognised as a champion of diversity and inclusion in the global resources sector.

In Chairman Tim Goyder’s assessment,

“Marnie is a capable, driven and hands on leader with a strong commercial acumen and a proven record of creating value in complex operating environments”.

The announcement positions her as the successor to Todd Ross, who is stepping back to focus on the growth of Bedrock Credit Partners, a natural resources private credit and specialist advisory firm he co founded, while pursuing other public company board roles in the sector.

Under his tenure DevEx Resources undertook a comprehensive review of previous exploration at the Nabarlek Uranium Project in preparation for a next phase of exploration, while also advancing assessment of new growth opportunities.

From a corporate perspective, the employment terms outlined in the appendix indicate that the company has adopted a blend of fixed pay, annual incentives, multi year retention rights and long dated options, supplemented by a long term incentive from December 2026.

Vesting of the long term component is to be assessed in 2030, with both absolute and relative total shareholder return measures used to determine outcomes, while a change of control event would trigger a bonus equal to twelve months of total fixed remuneration.

With this leadership change DevEx has set out a multi year framework in which its new Managing Director’s experience in battery materials, large company operating models and project development will underpin the company’s next phase of organisational and project maturation.

These capabilities align with stated priorities that include progressing a high quality uranium portfolio in the Northern Territory, pursuing further uranium opportunities and seeking to unlock value from the Kennedy rare earths project in Queensland.

They also support the next phase of exploration at Nabarlek and the company’s ongoing assessment of additional growth options within the resources sector.

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