Chastened Rio Tinto chairman Simon Thompson has vowed to steer the mining company through the replacement of ousted chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques and has rejected suggestions that boardroom divisions have reached problematic levels.

Mr Thompson’s determination to ensure Rio does not lose its chairman and chief executive simultaneously comes after investors forced him to change direction on the board’s original plan to retain Mr Jacques and other top executives linked to destruction of Juukan Gorge, and as super fund HESTA said the board still did not have appropriate governance and oversight of traditional landowner agreements.