Mining giant Rio Tinto’s incoming chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques has restructured the company and gotten rid of one of the rivals to his post as CEO in the wake of the retirement of Sam Walsh, the man who saved Rio from the worst of its excesses.
Rio said the company would now be organised on four product groups—aluminium, copper and diamonds, energy & minerals and iron ore—and created a fifth group that will focus on asset growth and innovation.
Jean-Sébastien Jacques, currently Rio’s deputy chief executive is to take the helm from Mr Walsh on July 2.
As a result the current iron ore boss and one-time CEO aspirant Andrew Harding, a 25 year veteran of the big miner, leave the mining giant on July 1.
Mr Jean-Sebastien Jacques said that Chris Salisbury, currently acting copper and coal chief executive, will become the head of iron ore operations as part of the reorganisation effective July 2.
The Pilbara iron ore operations of Rio are the heart of the company and its most important revenue and profit generator, providing 80% to 90% of earnings in recent years.
The business was run by Sam Walsh before he became chief executive of the group in 2013. Mr Harding. Alfredo Barrios will remain CEO of the aluminium division, based in Montreal.
Alan Davies, another of Mr Jacques’ rivals to become chief executive, is staying with Rio and will head up restructured energy and minerals business, losing management of diamonds but running its coal mines alongside its uranium operations and a collection of smaller businesses.
He will also run Rio’s iron ore operations in Canada, which are smaller and far less profitable than its large Australian iron ore mines. Rio decided not to sell the Canadian mines three years ago, before the iron ore price collapsed.
Rio shares fell 1.3% to $44.21 yesterday.
