JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) − Mining major Rio Tinto on Friday announced that it had appointed its head of exploration, Eric Finlayson, as the new CEO of Riversdale Mining.

Finlayson would replace the MD Steve Mallyon, who had been steering the Australian company since 2008 and who would now act as a special adviser to Finlayson.

Rio Tinto owns 99.76% of Riversdale and is now mopping up the shares not yet acquired as part of its A$4-billion takeover. It started the compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares on Friday.

Finalyson would be based in Mozambique, where the Riversdale operations are situated, and Rio Tinto said that he brought extensive experience in emerging country environments to the table.

Riversdale owns the four-billion ton Benga and the nine-billion ton Zambeze coal projects in Mozambique, as well as the Zululand Anrhrachite Colliery (ZAC) in South Africa. Rio Tinto plans to sell ZAC.