ASCOT, England, July 25 /EMWNews/ -- The Board of Element Six SA, an

independently managed joint venture between De Beers SA (majority

shareholder) and Umicore SA, today announced that Christian Hultner, the

CEO of Element Six, will leave the company on September 30th 2008 and has

named Cyrus Jilla as the new CEO effective October 1st 2008. Christian

Hultner will remain on the Element Six Board as a non-executive director.



    Mr. Jonathan Oppenheimer, non-executive chairman in recognising

Christian Hultner's substantial contribution to Element Six, over his eight

years of service, said, "During Christian Hultner's tenure, he has led

Element Six through a period of transformation, establishing the company as

the undisputed market leader in supermaterials, outperforming all its

peers, and creating a company with excellent long-term growth prospects."



    Prior to joining Element Six, incoming CEO Cyrus Jilla has spent most

of his career with Bain & Company, the global business consultants, most

recently as Managing Partner of their London office. He is an acknowledged

expert in strategy & company transformations and has strong mergers &

acquisitions experience. Cyrus has advised De Beers and the Element Six

management since 1999, and he has served as a non-executive director of

Element Six since 2003. Previously, Cyrus worked for Schroders plc, the

investment bank. Cyrus will also join the De Beers SA Executive Committee.



    On Cyrus Jilla's appointment, Mr. Oppenheimer went on to say, "We are

truly delighted that Cyrus has accepted the role as CEO of Element Six.

With his service as a non-executive director, Cyrus already has an in-depth

knowledge of the business. Cyrus brings extensive strategic and leadership

capability that will be invaluable to Element Six in meeting the challenges

of the future."



    Mr. Jilla commented, "I am very excited about the future of Element Six

and honoured to have the opportunity to lead such a successful business and

talented management team. Element Six has highly dedicated people, close

customer partnerships, world beating technology, and an excellent track

record of growth. I look forward to continuing all our important

relationships and to facilitate a seamless transition with Christian.

Hopefully, we will continue to drive rapid growth from the strong

foundations that Christian and the team have built."






    For more information contact:



    John Caldwell, Corporate Communications Manager, Element Six Ltd,

    Tel: +353-61-460015.



    http://www.e6.com