Fortescue founding director to retire

ANDREW Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group deputy chairman and one of its founding directors will retire later this year, as the miner continues to refresh its board’s membership.

Perth-based Fortescue, the world’s No 4 iron ore exporter, said that three of its directors would retire, including deputy chairman Herb Elliott and non-executive director Graeme Rowley.

Rowley, a former executive at Rio Tinto, “was one of Fortescue’s founders”, joining the board in May 2003, the company said. Former Olympic gold medallist Elliott, who was chairman of the company from 2007 to 2011, has been on the board since October 2003.

Fortescue said non-executive director Herbert Scruggs will also leave the board.

Over the past decade, Fortescue has grown from a tiny explorer to one of the world’s biggest miners of iron ore, competing against major firms like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. It recently reached a long-targeted annual output rate of 155 million metric tons after building new mines in the resource-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Former director Geoff Brayshaw retired last year, while Fortescue brought on three new directors — Peter Meurs, Elizabeth Gaines and Sharon Warburton — also in 2013.

The deputy chairman and the two board members will stand down at the company’s annual general meeting in November and won’t be replaced, Fortescue said.