Rio Tinto names iron ore boss Simon Trott as miner’s new CEO

Rio Tinto Group has named its iron ore boss Simon Trott as its new chief executive officer, replacing the outgoing Jakob Stausholm.

Trott, 50, takes on the role after Rio sought a leader with more mining experience to focus on portfolio growth. Rio has many expansions in the pipeline, including a $13 billion splurge on iron ore, a range of new lithium projects, and plans to keep growing in copper.

While Rio considered external alternatives, the company’s top candidates were widely considered to be internal — including Jérôme Pécresse, CEO of the aluminum unit, and Chief Commercial Officer Bold Baatar.

Trott was seen as a good fit for the role as head of Rio’s biggest and most profitable division — even if he only assumed leadership of iron ore four years ago. Prior to that he was chief commercial officer and had spent nearly two decades in a range of operational and business development roles at the company.

“Simon came into our iron ore business at a time of significant challenges and has been instrumental in rebuilding culture, strengthening external relationships and setting us on a pathway for growth,” Rio Chair Dominic Barton said in a statement. Trott will start as CEO on Aug. 25.

Stausholm joined Rio in 2018 before being propelled to CEO after Rio blew up a 46,000-year-old sacred site in Western Australia. Despite early criticism, Stausholm successfully rebuilt the company’s tattered reputation and reset relationships with traditional owners, while also unlocking new areas of growth.

Growth areas

The new leader faces his own challenges, taking the helm of a giant miner that’s preparing for a new leg of growth and a new focus on expansion.

In iron ore, the company is set to bring into production its massive Simandou project in Africa’s Guinea, while also spending billions over the next three years in maintaining and boosting output from Australian mines.

Rio completed the acquisition of Arcadum Lithium Ltd. earlier this year, a rare bet by a major diversified miner on the battery metal. That move marked a return to acquisitions for a company that had shied away from deals for years after previous debacles during earlier boom times.

Growth will be top of the agenda for Trott in his new role. Last year, Rio was in talks about a potential merger with Glencore Plc, which would have seen the birth of a combined company even bigger than rival BHP Group, according to people familiar with the matter.

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