Rio Tinto’s JS Jacques shakes up leadership team
Rio Tinto boss Jean Sebastien Jacques has reshuffled his executive leadership team, promoting a rising star to his inner circle.
Rio Tinto boss Jean Sebastien Jacques has reshuffled his executive leadership team, promoting rising star Peter Toth to his inner circle along with Rio procurement boss Mark Davies.
Rio’s board and management have been under growing pressure amid ongoing problems at two of its flagship operations – its once dominant iron ore division and the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine expansion in Mongolia.
But the surprise reshuffle, sparked by the retirement of long-serving exploration boss Steve McIntosh, makes permanent changes to Mr Jacques’ leadership team ahead of the findings of a board-led review into the “internal processes and governance” of its iron ore division, focused on the decision-making around Rio’s destruction of a 46,000 year old heritage site at Juukan Gorge, which is expected to complete its work by October.
The announcement also comes before Mr McIntosh has delivered on his two key projects, a revised mine plan for Oyu Tolgoi — necessitated by the discovery that geotechnical issues at the mine would require a substantial and expensive revision of plans delivered under Mr Jacques leadership of Rio’s copper division – and an initial resource and development plan for Rio’s emerging Winu copper project in WA.
Mr McInstosh won’t leave Rio until September, giving him time to deliver on both.
But from then Rio’s revised structure will split his technology, exploration and project development team in two, handing Mr Toth the exploration portfolio to add to his current role as Rio’s strategy and business development boss.
He will also take control of early-stage project investment vehicle Rio Ventures from energy and minerals boss Bold Bataar, and lead Rio’s efforts to find a way into smaller projects, particularly in the battery and critical minerals sector.
Mr Davies, who has run Rio’s centralised procurement arm from Singapore for the last two years, will take overall responsibility for improving its record on safety, health and the environment, its technology and innovation efforts, as well the eventual development of Winu and the implementation of the Oyu Tolgoi underground expansion.
While Mr McIntosh has been the public face of the recent problems Rio has faced bringing its Oyu Tolgoi expansion to fruition, he inherited the plans developed during Mr Jacques’ own leadership of Rio’s copper division.
Rio is expected to outline its plans to fix the design of the massive underground project – tipped to cost up to $US1.9bn more than the $US5.3bn flagged when the project was approved in 2016, ahead of Mr McIntosh’s promotion to lead its development.
The Rio veteran has been with the company for 33 years, joining its ranks as an exploration geologist in 1987, and leading the company’s exploration efforts since 2011.
Rio shares closed down 81c at $97.15 on Wednesday.
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