Board of Directors

Mr David Somerville holds a Bachelor of Business degree from Curtin University and a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.

Mr Somerville has an accounting background having been a senior partner in a large Western Australian accounting practice, before establishing a financial services company which listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2007. He has over 32 years experience in a corporate capacity across a number of companies and a number of industry sectors including financial, resources and property development.

Mr. Lai has been a driving force in the growth and success of Phosphate Resources Limited, from its humble beginnings 30 years ago. Mr. Lai came to Christmas Island from Malaysia in 1978, working in a range of roles at the British Phosphate Commission(BPC) and Phosphate Mining Christmas Island (PMCI),as well as successfully starting his own business in retail and trading.

He played a leading role when the Christmas Island community came together to form PRL, investing their hard-earned savings and reopening the mine in 1990. Mr. Lai was a founding director of the newly formed entity. He is a passionate advocate for the Christmas Island community and building a diverse and sustainable economy that can support future generations of Islanders.

Under his leadership the Company has been transformed into an integrated and diversified business with interests in mining, agribusiness, energy, asset management, maintenance, transport and logistics. Mr. Lai is by nature, an entrepreneur with a keen eye for unlocking business opportunities. He has extensive experience in the phosphate mining and fertiliser industries in Australia and South East Asia.

Mr Tee Lip Jen holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Since graduating Mr. Tee Lip Jen started his career as a Process Engineer in the manufacturing industry for 2 years before expanding his experience as a Project Engineer in a refinery plant specialising in producing downstream palm oil products.

He is currently the Assistant Chief Engineer in charge of overseeing engineering and production activities in ten palm oil mills with an estimated production output of 410,000 metric tonnes of crude palm oil per year. Apart from managing the daily activities in palm oil mills, he is also in charge of overseeing three palm oil plantation estates located in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia with an estimated acreage of 3,400 acres.

Mr Adrian Gurgone is an experienced Chartered Accountant and MBA with significant executive management, investment, board and business leadership experience. He held senior roles with Deloitte Consulting along with a UK top-tier consulting firm, prior to establishing and running a successful national management consultancy and investment firm in 2007 for over a decade, advising multinational and mid-cap organisations globally.

His experience encompasses executive management, investment, strategy, financial and business analysis, risk management and corporate governance across a range of industries including mining, energy and resources. Adrian has held several directorships on private sector and not for profit boards.

Mr Ramanathan Krishnan career in the Fertilizer industry has spanned over 40 years including a variety of market-facing senior roles with Chemical Company of Malaysia before he joined PRLin 1999.

PRL Global benefits from Mr Ramanathan’s depth of fertilizer industry experience and knowledge both at a local and international levels as the company continues on its growth path towards becoming a vertically integrated Fertilizer business with interests in mining, trading, logistics and specialty fertilizers.

As the sales and marketing lead for Christmas Island Phosphates since 1999, the Company achieved record sales under his guidance. In more recent years he helped establish Phosphate Resources Malaysia (PRM) as a fully-fledged Fertilizer company with a network of warehouses across Malaysia.

He has also successfully completed a Bachelor of Business in Business Administration degree with Royal Melbourne Institute & Technology (RMIT) and a Diploma in Management from the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM).

Dato’ Sri Tee Lip Sin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (Human Resources Management) from the University of Wales, an Associate Diploma in Commerce from Curtin University Australia and an Executive Diploma in Plantation Management from the University of Malaya.

He has been involved in palm oil milling and management of palm oil plantations since 1995. Currently, he sits on the board of a number of private companies and is also the Executive Director for the Prosper Group of Companies which holds seven palm oil mills and 60,000 acres of palm oil plantations. He also has experience in operating 35,000 acres of plantation in Indonesia. Dato’ Sri Tee Lip Sin was appointed Executive Director of Phosphate Resources (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Phosphate Resources (Singapore) Pte Ltd, both wholly owned subsidiaries of PRL Global Ltd, effective from 1 July 2015. He is a Director of United Malacca Berhad, a Malaysian Company that is listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

Mr Keng Siew Ong is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, United Kingdom. He is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Mr Ong began his career with Paramount Corporation Berhad (Paramount) in 1981 as an Accountant and after serving Paramount in various positions for over 30 years, he retired as Managing director and CEO in June 2012.

Mr Ong is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director of Paramount Corporation Berhad, United Malacca Berhad and Pekat Group Berhad, all listed on Bursa Malaysia.

Ms. Tee Chain Yee holds a Bachelor of Marketing degree and a Master’s degree in Accounting, both from Curtin University of Technology, Australia. She embarked on her journey with Prosper Group in 2005, starting as an Assistant General Manager. Over the years, she has risen to the position of Operations & Finance Director at Prosper Group. In this pivotal role, Ms. Tee oversees the development of both operational and financial strategies, ensuring their alignment with the overarching corporate objectives. Furthermore, Ms. Tee also serves as a Director in several private limited companies, specializing in diverse sectors including oil palm plantations, palm oil mills, and housing development.

(Appointed 30 August 2023)

Ms. Lee has over 20 years’ experience in the areas of corporate governance and company secretarial functions.

Prior to joining CI Resources Limited, Ms. Lee held company secretarial positions for Phosphate Resources Limited, Macmahon Holdings Limited, Corporate Compliance Partners and Lend Lease Primelife Limited. Ms. Lee also performed contract company secretarial roles with Macquarie Bank Limited and Austock Group Limited.

Ms. Lee holds a Bachelor of Business majoring in Finance and Business Law from Edith Cowan University, a Graduate Diploma in Corporate Governance from the Governance Institute of Australia, a Graduate Diploma in Corporate Governance for ASX Listed Entities from Kaplan Financial Institute and is a Fellow member of the Governance Institute of Australia.