Heads roll at Rio Tinto as miner rings in major changes

Rio Tinto, the second-largest Australian miner, will undergo a major restructure as new boss Simon Trott announces the exit of two high-ranking executives, the combination of far-flung businesses and a review into assets in America and Africa.

Trott, who officially took over from Jakob Stausholm as the mining giant’s chief executive this month, told staff on Wednesday afternoon that the company would reorganise four divisions into just three: iron ore, copper and a merged lithium and aluminium business.

Two of the company’s most senior executives – Rio Tinto Australia chief executive Kellie Parker and chief executive of minerals Sinead Kaufman – would leave the company, he said.

Kaufman would exit at the end of October, while Parker would remain in her role during a “transition period”.

Some of the commodities in Kaufman’s minerals division, including projects producing borates and titanium in North America and southern Africa, were considered non-core, and had been placed under “strategic review”, which might lead to divestment or closure.

“An update will be provided on the outcome of these reviews in due course,” the company said in a statement. “Throughout this review process, these businesses will continue to focus on running safely and profitably to meet customer commitments.”

The restructure plans unveiled on Wednesday will merge all of Rio Tinto’s mines supplying its most lucrative commodity – the steel-making raw ingredient iron ore – into the one global unit. Matt Holcz has been appointed to lead the iron ore division, integrating Rio Tinto’s flagship Pilbara iron ore mines in Western Australia with mines in Canada and the Simandou project in Guinea.

One of Trott’s first tasks since becoming chief executive this week has been to travel to Guinea following the workplace death of an employee at Simondou. Trott described the death as devastating and said he was “determined to learn everything we can to prevent such a tragedy from happening again”.

In an internal message to staff to outline the corporate changes on Wednesday, Trott noted the company’s improved operational performance and the “enormous effort” being put into rebuilding relationships with communities around its operations worldwide. The company and its social standing in Australia was plunged into crisis in 2020 following its disastrous destruction of 46,000-year-old Aboriginal rock shelters at Western Australia’s Juukan Gorge to make way for an iron ore mine expansion.

Trott praised Parker as a “transformational leader during a challenging period” and credited her for setting the company on path to be a better partner to the communities in which it operates. “I am deeply grateful for Kellie’s commitment, the change she has driven during her time in this role, and the major contribution she made during her 24 years with the company,” he said.

He also thanked Kaufman, who has been with Rio Tinto for nearly 30 years. “Throughout her tenure, Sinead has been a highly valued leader and a mentor to many, and I’m particularly grateful for her tremendous support in navigating these changes,” he said.

Explaining the rationale for the restructure, Trott said his aim was to simplify how the company was run, developing a more disciplined approach to operational and capital performance, and “ensuring our functions are supporting out frontline teams to be at their best”.

“By simplifying our work, we will move faster, minimise distraction, create clearer accountabilities, remove frustration and free people to focus on delivering excellence for our customers and working safely to generate real long-term value for Rio and our shareholders,” he said.

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