Mining giant Rio Tinto gets a new Australian boss

6 hours ago 3

Mining giant Rio Tinto has appointed its Australian head of iron ore to take over as chief executive from outgoing boss Jakob Stausholm.

Trott, who has worked at the dual British- and Australian-listed miner for more than 25 years, will move into the top job from August 25, when Stausholm departs.

Simon Trott (right) with Jakob Staustholm at Rio Tinto’s Western Range mine in June.

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 later this year after almost five years at the top, and failing to name a successor.

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

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 may not have moved a long way from his roots, in a small town of less than 400 people in Western Australia’s wheat belt called Wikepin, but he has risen swiftly to the top of the $155 billion miner, one of the world’s largest, rising to the helm aged 50.

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 the company’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.

Rio, like its rival BHP, is facing big challenges that Trott will have to manage.

Both companies are heading into capital-intensive, construction-heavy periods with a focus on projects aimed at boosting supplies of commodities that stand to benefit from growing global efforts to tackle global warming, such as electric battery raw material lithium, and copper, a key ingredient in electric wiring.

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

The cash cow of both miners, 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.

Rio chair Dominic 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.”

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, Rio said.

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