Published on : 18/12/2020 – 00:27
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The scandal of the sacred aboriginal caves destroyed by Rio Tinto in Western Australia had pushed CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques towards the exit. His successor has just been appointed. And he will have the difficult task of restoring the image of the mining giant.
Jakob Stausholm had been Rio Tinto’s chief financial officer for two years, after spending time with shipping giant Maersk and twenty years with oil tanker Shell. He will be the new boss of the Anglo-Australian mining group from January 1. This choice of a member of the management team and a Dane, to replace the French Jean-Sebastien Jacques, is a double surprise, as the authorities of Canberra had insisted that it be an Australian, connoisseur of aboriginal issues, who takes over.
Repair the damage
The shareholders, for their part, hoped for the arrival of a personality from outside Rio Tinto to restore the image of the second largest mining group in the world, which had been badly damaged since last May. The management of the group then preferred destroy the caves of Juukan, a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal sacred place, so as not to lose $ 80 million worth of high-grade iron ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It was legal but the case had scandalized far beyond the borders of Australia.
Rio Tinto will have to repair the damage literally and figuratively. The Australian authorities, who are reviewing the legislation, have demanded that the mining group reconstruct the rocky site at its own expense. Jakob Stausholm also says to himself ” aware of the need to restore trust with customary owners and with shareholders Even if the latter benefit fully from the income derived from the record prices of iron ore.
Change of style?
It will also be necessary to coax the authorities of Mongolia, to accept the delays and the explosion in the costs of the Oyu Tolgoï giant copper mine, and face justice in an old case of corruption linked to Guinean Simandou deposit, since abandoned by the mining group. The more pleasant style of the new boss will perhaps succeed where Jean-Sébastien Jacques, more charismatic but more authoritative, has failed.
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