Aspiring uranium miner Extract Resources has appointed former Rio Tinto manager and director Jonathan Leslie to replace Peter McIntyre as its new chief executive.

Extract said Mr Leslie, who has worked as the managing director of Rossing Uranium, had developed close relationships with the Namibian government, where the company's flagship project Rossing South is located.

"He has broad experience of uranium marketing having spent four years responsible for Rio Tinto's worldwide uranium sales into the Far East and Asia," the company said.

Most recently, Mr Leslie has served as executive chairman for AIM-listed mining company Nikanor, which is developing a copper/cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The company said Mr Leslie would join the board in due course.

Mr McIntyre left the company in September after a dispute with major shareholder Kalahari Minerals