James Mellon (alias: Jim Mellon)
Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Board

James Mellon (alias: Jim Mellon), British, was appointed as an Executive Director of the Company in July 1991, and was re-designated as a Non-Executive Director in May 2002. His length of tenure on the Board is approximately 34 years. He is currently the Chair of both the Nomination Committee and the Investment Committee of the Company, and a member of both the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee of the Company. He holds a Master’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University and, since graduating in 1978, his entire career has been spent in asset acquisition and management over a wide range of sectors. Mr Mellon worked for GT Management Plc from 1978 to 1984. In July 1984, he joined the Thornton Group where he was Managing Director of the Asian operation. From 1988 to 1990, he was an executive director of Tyndall Holdings Plc responsible for business expansion and corporate development. In 1990, Mr Mellon co-founded and became Chief Executive of the Company. In 1994, he became Chair of the Company. Mr Mellon has over 30 years’ investment experience in Asia. He specialises in the acquisition, development and restructuring of international investments, and travels extensively across the region on company visits and fact-finding missions. He is also a director of a subsidiary of the Company. Mr Mellon is also: (i) the executive Chair of Agronomics Limited listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM (“AIM”); (ii) the executive Chair of Manx Financial Group plc listed on AIM; (iii) the non-executive Deputy Chair of Bradda Head Lithium Limited listed on AIM; and (iv) the non-executive Chair of SEED Innovations Limited (previously FastForward Innovations Limited) listed on AIM, of which Mr Mellon resigned as a non-executive Chair on 21 August 2019 and re-appointed as a non-executive Chair on 26 November 2025. He was formerly: (i) the non-executive Chair of the board of Rivington Street Holdings Limited (which was de-listed from ICAP Securities and Derivatives Exchange (ISDX) in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2014 and was dissolved on 20 October 2017); (ii) the non-executive Chair of the board of SalvaRx Group Plc (which was de-listed from AIM on 9 January 2020), which, following a group re-structuring in March 2017, disposed of all its investments and business interests to its subsidiary, namely SalvaRx Limited; (iii) the executive Chair of the board of Speymill plc (which was de-listed from AIM on 2 February 2015 and was dissolved on 20 October 2017); (iv) a non-executive director of West African Minerals Corporation (then an AIM-listed company, and now listed on New York’s NASDAQ as Okyo Pharma Limited); (v) resigned as the non-executive Chair of Condor Gold plc (an AIM-listed company) with effect from 15 January 2025, following the acquisition by Metals Exploration plc (also an AIM-listed company) on 15 January 2025 and de-listed on the same date; and (vi) resigned as a non-executive director of Portage Biotech Inc with effect from 4 September 2025 (which is dually listed on the NASDAQ of the United States and the Canadian Securities Exchange), of which Mr Mellon previously resigned as a non-executive director on 14 August 2020 and re-joined the board on 15 February 2022.