Rio Tinto on the hunt for new blood after CEO exit
Mining giant Rio Tinto has started a global search to replace chief executive Jakob Stausholm, who will step down from his position after spending almost five years at the top.
The $164 billion dual-listed company, which has shareholders in London and Australia, said it was conducting a search to replace Stausholm but did not provide a reason for his departure, other than saying it was a 'natural moment' for the miner to appoint a successor.
'Under Jakob's leadership, Rio Tinto has restored trust with key stakeholders, aligned our portfolio with the commodities where demand growth is strongest, built a diverse and talented management team, and set a compelling growth trajectory,' Rio's chair Dominic Barton said, thanking the Danish national for his contribution.
'This is a natural moment to appoint Jakob's successor, as we look ahead to our next phase in which we will double down to deliver greater operational performance to realise the full potential of our assets,' Barton said.
Rio is one of the world's biggest exporters of iron ore and suppliers of aluminum. The statement on Stausholm's departure came just an hour before Rio's rival Fortescue announced the retirement of the head of its energy division, Mark Hutchinson, and chief operating officer Shelley Robertson.
Stausholm stepped up as boss of Rio in January 2021 after the disastrous destruction of two 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in the Pilbara unleashed a wave of global condemnation, triggered a federal parliamentary inquiry in Australia, and plunged the company into crisis, prompting the exit of then CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques and two other senior executives.
The miner is still improving its cultural heritage processes and relationships with traditional owners.
Soon after his appointment, Stausholm was plunged into an overhaul of Rio's workplace culture after then sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick's investigation found a culture of bullying, sexual harassment, and discrimination.
The company has focused on metals crucial to the energy transition, ramping up its copper output and, unlike its major peers, targeting lithium as a key growth area, buying projects in Argentina and Australia.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
20 hours ago
- West Australian
Aussie shares rebound as US extends China tariff pause
Australian shares are heading higher, as investors shrugged-off escalating trade tensions between the White House and Beijing, after the United State extended a tariff pause on goods from China. The S&P/ASX200 jumped 47.2 points, or 0.56 per cent by lunchtime on Tuesday, to 8,462.5, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 50.9 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,688.4. "The US has extended its pause on some Chinese tariffs to August 31, so that's a boon for risk-on sentiment in the Asia-Pacific region," Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has surged 1.1 per cent in early trading, while Japan's Nikkei is up 0.4 per cent. "Other investors are more short-term focused, seeing the negative impact of tariffs, curbing consumption and increasing unemployment," Ms Amir said. Nine of 11 sectors were clearly in the green, led by a one per cent rebound in materials stocks after a lacklustre start to the week for big miners. Large cap miners BHP and Fortescue recovered 0.6 per cent and 1.3 per cent after selling off on Monday, but gold miners were again the clear winners after the precious metal rallied more than two per cent overnight. Northern Star, Newmont and Evolution Mining were all up more than three per cent each by midday, as gold futures traded at $US3,395 ($A5,237) an ounce. Rising US-China trade tensions and a lack of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks are again boosting the safe haven's appeal. Energy stocks were up 0.7 per cent with help from a more than six per cent lift in natural gas prices overnight, while oil traded within a tight range. Brent crude futures are trading at $US64.87 a barrel, while its West Texas equivalent is fetching $US63.36 a barrel. Banks helped push the bourse higher, with financials up 0.8 per cent by lunchtime. ANZ and Westpac were leading the big four banks, both up more than 1.1 per cent each after underperforming on Monday. The gravity-defying Commonwealth Bank has hit a new intraday high of $177.82, before easing to $177.55, up 0.6 per cent. Consumer discretionary and health care stocks were the only sectors in the red, both down 0.1 per cent by lunchtime. Shares in international student agent service IDP Education plummeted by 43 per cent, after it flagged roughyl 30 per cent drops in student placements due to restrictive policies in the US, Australia and Canada. The Australian dollar is slightly higher against the greenback, fetching 64.82 US cents, up from 64.67 US cents on Monday at 5pm. The US dollar strength index is struggling to rebound from three-year lows, as concerns continue to swell about economic growth in the world's largest economy and President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill," which would add trillions to already spiralling US debt.
Perth Now
20 hours ago
- Perth Now
Aussie shares rebound as US extends China tariff pause
Australian shares are heading higher, as investors shrugged-off escalating trade tensions between the White House and Beijing, after the United State extended a tariff pause on goods from China. The S&P/ASX200 jumped 47.2 points, or 0.56 per cent by lunchtime on Tuesday, to 8,462.5, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 50.9 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,688.4. "The US has extended its pause on some Chinese tariffs to August 31, so that's a boon for risk-on sentiment in the Asia-Pacific region," Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has surged 1.1 per cent in early trading, while Japan's Nikkei is up 0.4 per cent. "Other investors are more short-term focused, seeing the negative impact of tariffs, curbing consumption and increasing unemployment," Ms Amir said. Nine of 11 sectors were clearly in the green, led by a one per cent rebound in materials stocks after a lacklustre start to the week for big miners. Large cap miners BHP and Fortescue recovered 0.6 per cent and 1.3 per cent after selling off on Monday, but gold miners were again the clear winners after the precious metal rallied more than two per cent overnight. Northern Star, Newmont and Evolution Mining were all up more than three per cent each by midday, as gold futures traded at $US3,395 ($A5,237) an ounce. Rising US-China trade tensions and a lack of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks are again boosting the safe haven's appeal. Energy stocks were up 0.7 per cent with help from a more than six per cent lift in natural gas prices overnight, while oil traded within a tight range. Brent crude futures are trading at $US64.87 a barrel, while its West Texas equivalent is fetching $US63.36 a barrel. Banks helped push the bourse higher, with financials up 0.8 per cent by lunchtime. ANZ and Westpac were leading the big four banks, both up more than 1.1 per cent each after underperforming on Monday. The gravity-defying Commonwealth Bank has hit a new intraday high of $177.82, before easing to $177.55, up 0.6 per cent. Consumer discretionary and health care stocks were the only sectors in the red, both down 0.1 per cent by lunchtime. Shares in international student agent service IDP Education plummeted by 43 per cent, after it flagged roughyl 30 per cent drops in student placements due to restrictive policies in the US, Australia and Canada. The Australian dollar is slightly higher against the greenback, fetching 64.82 US cents, up from 64.67 US cents on Monday at 5pm. The US dollar strength index is struggling to rebound from three-year lows, as concerns continue to swell about economic growth in the world's largest economy and President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill," which would add trillions to already spiralling US debt.
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Mining giant Rio Tinto growing native pongamia trees for biofuel potential
Rio Tinto has started growing pongamia trees in northern Australia, as part of a biofuels project aimed at reducing the mining giant's reliance on fossil fuels. Pongamia trees are native to Australia and produce oil-rich seeds that can be processed into renewable diesel. The company has already planted 8,000 trees near its bauxite project on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory, and has also started planting 750,000 trees at a new farm it bought near Townsville in Queensland. "Midway Limited has been tasked with overseeing the planting and management of that seed farm." Mr Hoffman said fast-growing pongamia trees were common in the suburbs of Brisbane and Darwin. "It's around five years before you can harvest seeds, but then the tree has a very long life span," he told ABC Rural. "One of the benefits is this tree does appear to grow well on degraded land or previously mined land. "Also in terms of waste products, the meal that's left behind after the seed is pressed [for oil], with further treatment, can be used as a cattle feed." He said pongamia seeds would not be able to fuel Rio's entire fleet of mining vehicles, but would hopefully play a role. Earlier this year, Rio Tinto trialled 10 million litres of renewable diesel — created from used cooking oil — across its Pilbara iron ore operations in Western Australia. The biofuel got used across the supply chain, featuring in Rio Tinto's rail, marine, haul trucks, surface mining equipment and light vehicles. Rio Tinto's managing director of rail, port and core services, Richard Cohen, said diesel made up about 70 per cent of the total carbon emissions from the company's Pilbara iron ore operations. "While electrification is the ultimate longer-term solution for re-powering the majority of our fleet, we're also exploring biofuels as a complementary and nearer-term solution," he said. Forestry Industry Association of the Northern Territory (FIANT) manager Hanna Lillicrap said it was great to see a major mining company getting involved in the forestry sector. "It reflects a growing recognition of the role forestry can play as a climate-positive solution in emissions reduction strategies," she said. Ms Lillicrap said Australia was quickly becoming a leader in pongamia research and mining money was welcome. "It's great to see serious investment going into research to better understand the species and its potential," she said. "If it can be made viable at scale, pongamia could play a role in the mix in decarbonisation efforts by providing a renewable fuel alternative, especially for hard-to-abate sectors."
