Matthew Daley, former CEO of Anglo American, will be the new CEO of South32 Australia in 2026

Matthew Daley, the new CEO of South32 Australia, will take over the company when the long-serving CEO Graham Kerr retires in 2026. Daley will be the interim deputy chief executive in early 2019.

Daley, who has over 20 years' experience in the mining and metals industry, is expected to continue the expansion of the miner into base metals. South32 announced that Daley will be joining South32 from Anglo American plc where he currently serves as the technical and operations manager.

He was previously the executive general director of Glencore Canada's copper division.

Daley's experience at Glencore, as well as South32's desire to grow in energy-transition metal copper, may be a factor in achieving this ambition. This comes after some investors criticized South32 for being too cautious in its M&A.

What are we signaling that they will buy copper? Simon Mawhinney, Chief Investment Officer at Allan Gray. "It could be that you have to 'join a queue'."

The appointment coincides with a generational shift among top-ranking miners around the world, as BHP's Mike Henry is expected to retire in the next year.

South32 Chair Karen Wood stated in a statement that Matthew is an accomplished executive who has extensive experience in operations and leadership, including in copper, the Americas and other industries. The board believes he will be the best successor to Graham.

Kerr is the longest-serving mining CEO, aside from Glencore's Ivan Glasenberg, who ruled for nearly 20 years.

South32, over the course of that time, has sold coal and purchased copper and other base materials, adding value and strength to an already challenging portfolio. However, some investors say he could've done it quicker.

A high capital cost also raises questions about the success of his U.S. Hermosa Base Metals Projects in Arizona. South32 approved $2.16 Billion in capital investment for last year.

Kerr said he would continue to focus on the expansion of its Sierra Gorda joint-venture in Chile, and on derisking Hermosa’s Taylor project.

He said, "We are still at the inflection point in our organisation where we invest heavily in base materials."

Kerr, who has been at South32 for 10 years, said that it was time to leave. He hadn't given much thought to life after South32 beyond taking a short break.

"I honestly can't see myself playing golf." (Reporting and editing by Tom Hogue in Bengaluru, Himani Sarkar, Sonali Paul and Himanshi Akhand)

(source: Reuters)