Australia-based miner Rio Tinto has announced that its chairman Simon Thompson will step down accepting that he is accountable for the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters.
Simon Thompson will not seek re-election in 2022. Sam Laidlaw, senior independent director of Rio Tinto plc, and Simon McKeon, senior independent director of Rio Tinto Limited, will now therefore jointly lead the search for the new chairman.
“I am proud of Rio Tinto’s achievements in 2020, including our outstanding response to the Covid-19 pandemic and significant progress with our climate change strategy. However, these successes were overshadowed by the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters at the Brockman 4 operations in Australia and, as chairman, I am ultimately accountable for the failings that led to this tragic event,” Simon Thompson said.
Meanwhile, Rio Tinto had appointed Jakob Stausholm as chief executive, effective January 1, 2021, as SteelOrbis previously reported.