Australian mining giant backs hometown hero for top job

Rio Tinto’s decision to fill its chief executive spot with local talent has won plaudits, including the tick from iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart, who has asked new boss Simon Trott to consider moving the miner’s headquarters to Perth.

The dual British and Australian-listed miner on Tuesday announced Trott, a 25-year veteran at the company, would move into the top job from August 25, when chief executive Jakob Stausholm departs.

Industry analysts have labelled Trott’s appointment a safe, low-risk choice by Rio Tinto’s board. It has been almost a decade since the miner had an Australian-born boss after former CEO Sam Walsh stepped down in 2016.

Rio Tinto’s new boss Simon Trott will be paid a base salary of $2,747,590, along with further incentives and a company pension worth 14 per cent of his earnings.

Trott’s promotion has won plaudits across the board in Western Australia; Australia’s richest person Rinehart has said the new Rio Tinto CEO had a chance to follow in Walsh’s footsteps.

Rinehart said she had urged Walsh in 2013, when he became Rio Tinto’s chief, to transfer the miner’s headquarters to Western Australia, where the company makes most of its money.

Billionaire Gina Rinehart.Credit: Hancock Prospecting

“[I] still think this would be good for WA, and much safer than Guinea!” the billionaire said.

WA Premier Roger Cook said Trott’s continued success at Rio Tinto was a proud moment for the state.

“It’s an endorsement of everything that they’ve done to maintain Western Australia as one of the great mining jurisdictions in the world, and now we have a homegrown product, a boy who grew up in the Wheatbelt, who now is heading up one of the largest mining companies in the world.”

Rio Tinto, which is headquartered in London, reported strong quarterly results from its global assets on Wednesday, and maintained its current guidance. Copper production rose 6 per cent year-on-year and shipments from its huge Pilbara iron ore operation rose 13 per cent over the previous quarter – its highest second quarter since 2018 – after recovering from the impact of extreme weather.

The miner added that it will accelerate first shipments from its crucial Simandou mine in Guinea, with its vast reserves of high-grade ore, to November this year.

Simandou has been touted as the next big source of iron ore and widely expected to put pressure on the operations in Pilbara. The cash cow of both Rio Tinto and BHP, iron ore from the Pilbara is also facing slowing output of from steel production in China and the global uncertainty induced by US President Donald Trump’s tariff wars.

Trott has run Rio’s critical iron ore operations in the Pilbara since 2021 and spent much of his career working at the company in senior roles including stints in Singapore, London and Hong Kong.

The executive grew up in a small town of less than 400 people in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt called Wikepin and has risen swiftly to the top of the $155 billion miner, one of the world’s largest, becoming chief executive aged 50.

He will be paid a base salary of $2,747,590, along with further incentives and a company pension worth 14 per cent of his earnings, Rio said.

“We view the appointment (which took around two months after Jakob agreed to step down) as a relatively safe and low-risk option,” UBS analyst Lachlan Shaw said in a note to clients.

“The board judged Simon an outstanding leader, noting his contributions in stabilising Pilbara iron ore from when he started (post Juukan Gorge), delivering on Gudai-darri and Western Range projects on time and budget, and unlocking the vast Rhodes Ridge project (first ore targeted FY30),” Shaw said.

Rio began a global search in May to replace its chief executive after board chair Dominic Barton surprised investors by disclosing that Stausholm would leave this year after almost five years at the top, at the time the board didn’t name a successor.

But the international search hasn’t ventured further than Perth, where Trott is based.

Simon Trott (right) with Jakob Staustholm at Rio Tinto’s Western Range mine in June.Credit: Matt Jelonek/Rio Tinto

Outgoing boss Stausholm has not spoken about his next steps. He took control of Rio in January 2021 after the disastrous destruction of two 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in the Pilbara plunged the company into crisis, prompting the exit of then CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques and two other senior executives.

The Danish national oversaw significant improvement in the miner’s approach to cultural heritage and relationships with traditional owners, and managed Rio’s reaction to another controversy precipitated by then sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick’s 2022 investigation into a culture of bullying, sexual harassment, and discrimination.

Stausholm also pivoted Rio’s focus to metals that are 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.

A major player in iron ore from the Pilbara, Rio has shifted its focus to metals that are crucial to the energy transition.Credit: Bloomberg

Rio chair Barton said Trott was an outstanding leader with a deep understanding of mining and a track record of delivering operational excellence and creating value across Rio’s business.

“Simon and the board are aligned that Rio Tinto’s next phase is about unlocking significant value for shareholders from our portfolio, driven by operational performance, and cost and financial discipline.”

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