PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining giant BHP Billiton chief commercial officer Dean Dalla Valle will leave the diversified mining group at the end of March, the company announced on Thursday.
“Dalla Valle is one of the longest serving and most respected leaders at BHP. His deep knowledge of operations, strong commercial judgment and leadership have made a major contribution to our company over four decades,” CEO Andrew Mackenzie said.
Most recently, Dalla Valle led BHP’s response team in Brazil during the Samarco dam failure.
Brazil last week charged 21 with qualified homicide and environmental crimes, including current and former BHP Billiton employees, for the Samarco dam bust, which killed 19 people and resulted in Brazil’s worst-ever environmental disaster.
The group rejects the charges against the company and the affected individuals.
BHP Billiton said it would centralise the management of Samarco, alongside the group’s other major minerals nonoperated joint ventures in the Minerals Americas profile.