SANTIAGO – Chile’s State-owned copper producer Codelco named Octavio Araneda as CEO, following the departure of Nelson Pizarro.
Pizarro handed in his resignation on Friday during a board meeting at the company’s headquarters in Santiago, Codelco said in a statement. Araneda, who was most recently vice-president of operations at the company’s central and southern division, was chosen unanimously by the board. The leadership change will be effective September 1.
“Araneda is a continuation of Pizarro and he will bring in his own things,” Juan Benavides, Codelco chairman, told journalists. “There is quite a lot of space for more efficiency, cost cutting and productivity increases at Codelco.”
Pizarro, a 78-year-old industry veteran, had signaled he might leave the company after the inauguration of the $5.5-billion transformation of the giant Chuquicamata openpit mine into an underground operation. Araneda will be in charge of continuing Pizarro’s cost-cutting efforts to secure the billions of dollars in funding the company needs to upgrade its aging mines and maintain copper production.
Next on Codelco’s pipeline of large projects is a new level at El Teniente, the company’s largest mine, which fell under Araneda’s mandate in his previous role.