JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diversified miner Rio Tinto has appointed Greg Lilleyman the new group executive for technology and innovation (T&I), taking over from Preston Chiaro, who retires at the end of March 2014.
Lilleyman’s appointment would become effective from January 2014.
“Under Chiaro’s leadership, our industry-leading T&I group has developed and delivered numerous innovations, including the growth of our ground-breaking Mine of the FutureTM programme, which has created sustainable value for our shareholders by ensuring Rio Tinto has a competitive advantage in the way we operate,” said CEO Sam Walsh.
Chiaro joined Rio in 1991 as VP of technical services at Kennecott Utah Copper’s Bingham Canyon mine. Since then, he has held a variety of senior roles, including VP and GM of the Boron operations in California, CEO of Borax and CEO of Rio’s then combined energy and minerals product groups.
In 2009, Chiaro was appointed group executive for technology and innovation.
Lilleyman, a mining engineer by profession, has been with Rio for 23 years, mainly with the iron-ore business in Australia and Canada.
As president Pilbara operations, Lilleyman oversaw the successful development of numerous technology-driven improvements, including autonomous trucks, drills and trains. Since becoming head of productivity improvement in T&I in August 2013, he has led all aspects of productivity improvement across the group.
Walsh noted that Lilleyman’s task would be to ensure that Rio remained at the forefront of developing and deploying sector-leading technologies that change the way the company looked at mineral deposits, make its operations safer, help manage costs and respond to environmental imperatives.