Newly appointed Vedanta CEO Tom Albanese
Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – London-listed Vedanta Resources on Thursday announced the appointment of Tom Albanese as CEO, with effect from April 1.
Albanese, who was previously the CEO of mining major Rio Tinto would be replacing current Vedanta CEO Mahendra Singh Mehta who was retiring.
Vendanta said in a statement that it also intended to recommend Albanese for the CEO position of Vedanta group company Sesa Sterlite at the end of Mehta’s term as Sesa’s CEO on March 31.
"Albanese's skills and experience in leading world-class mining companies will be of great value in supporting our strategic objective of creating sustainable long-term value for all our stakeholders,” Vedanta chairperson Anil Agarwal said, adding that Albanese would lead all the businesses of the group’s companies.
Albanese said his focus would be on operational excellence, efficient cost management and sustainability to drive long-term value for all stakeholders.
“I also look forward to supporting Agarwal and the board in implementing the strategic ambitions of the Vedanta group,” he said.
These strategic priorities included optimising its operations, strengthening its balance sheet and further simplifying the Vedanta group structure.
Albanese had been working with Vedanta since September last year, when he was appointed chairperson of Vedanta 100%-owned subsidiary Vedanta Resources Holdings.