Simon Trott has been appointed iron ore chief executive at Rio Tinto, as part of a shake-up that leaves its management team weighted heavily in favour of its head office in London.
Simon Trott has been appointed iron ore chief executive at Rio Tinto, as part of a shake-up that leaves its management team weighted heavily in favour of its head office in London but bolsters the role of Australians.
Mr Trott, who grew up in WA, replaces Ivan Vella, who assumed the role on an interim basis in September after former iron ore chief executive Chris Salisbury resigned following the fallout from the destruction of the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters.
Mr Trott joined Rio Tinto in 2000 and has since held a variety of operating, commercial and business development roles including managing director of the company’s salt, uranium, borates and diamonds businesses.
He graduated from the University of Western Australia with a bachelor of agriculture and has spent most of his career in Perth.
He most recently worked as Rio's chief commercial officer, based in Singapore since January 2018.
In this role, he oversaw the selling and marketing of Rio's products, the procurement of goods and services, and the management of marine and logistics activities.
Mr Trott said as a proud Western Australian who grew up in the Wheatbelt, it was great to be returning home.
"The iron ore business means a lot to WA and Rio Tinto," Mr Trott said.
"With that comes great responsibility - to the thousands of people we employ, to Traditional Owners, local communities, and the customers we serve.
"My time running operations and working for Rio abroad has taught me a lot, and I believe I can bring a unique perspective to the role from the way we work with our partners and customers, to how other product groups run their operations.”
Mr Vella, who will be based in Montreal, will become aluminium chief executive.
Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia chief executive Paul Everningam congratulated Mr Vella - who is the Chamber's president - and Mr Trott on their new roles.
“Simon grew up in Western Australia and I’m looking forward to working closely with him in his new position,” Mr Everingham said.
Two new positions have also been added to the leadership team: a chief operating officer and a chief executive Australia.
Managing director pacific operations aluminium Kellie Parker will become chief executive Australia, based in Melbourne, and copper and diamonds chief executive Arnaud Soirat will become group chief operating officer in London.
Rio said Ms Parker, who grew up in the Pilbara mining town of Wickham and joined the company in 2001 as an injury management advisor, would focus on "rebuilding trust and strengthening external relationships across Australia", implying she will have a lead role in dealing with the fallout from the Juukan Gorge controversy.
Ms Parker said Australia was of the utmost importance to Rio and there was a lot of work ahead to rebuild relationships across the country.
"Having worked in operations from the Pilbara to far north Queensland, I know first-hand just how important strong relationships are for a company like ours to be respected and successful, and just what the consequences are when we don’t get it right,
"My absolute objective will be to help restore trust and regain our standing in Australian society."
Further changes include aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios becoming chief commercial officer, energy and minerals chief executive Bold Baatar being appointed copper chief executive and managing director operations copper and diamonds Sinead Kaufman joining the executive committee as minerals chief executive.
Chief people officer Vera Kirikova has left the company and been replaced by James Martin, who is currently a partner at Egon Zehnder.
Of the 13 people on Rio's new leadershop team, eight will be based in London.
Only three will be based in Australia - Mr Trott in Perth, Ms Parker in Melbourne and group executive, safety, technical and projects Mark Davies in Brisbane, despite most of the company's earnings coming from its Pilbara iron ore operations.
Recently appointed chief executive Jakob Stausholm said while the company continued to deliver strong safety and operational performance, despite the challenges of COVID-19, there were improvements that could be made across the business.
“I want to re-establish Rio Tinto as a trusted partner for host communities, governments and other stakeholders,” Mr Stausholm said.
“Now the work starts for ExCo [executive committee], with a full agenda ahead of us and a determination to become a strong team.”
He welcomed the new recruits to the executive team and said they would bring a new perspective along with strong track records.
Rio Tinto faced backlash from shareholders and the general public after it made the decision to blow up 46,000-year-old rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia last year.
