Mining giant BHP Billiton said on Wednesday that Cape Town-born Marius Kloppers is to succeed Chip Goodyear as its CEO from October this year.
A chemical engineer by training, Kloppers is currently group president of non-ferrous materials including copper, lead, zinc and nickel, as well as diamonds — which means he is already responsible for more than 60% of the group’s earnings.
With the reputation of a “wheeler-dealer”, the 44-year old joined Billiton in 1993 at the age of just 30 and worked initially in the aluminium side of the business before moving to a variety of operating and functional roles, including general manager of Hillside Aluminium and chief operating officer of aluminium.
With 14 years of experience with BHP Billiton and its predecessor companies — having also been chief executive of Samancoe Mangenese — he has also held the positions of chief commercial officer and chief marketing officer since the $57-billion merger of BHP and Billiton in 2001.
Kloppers will be based at the group’s headquarters in Melbourne, Australia.
Australian daily, the Sydney Morning Herald, said in an academic and commercial sense, Kloppers is almost tailor-made for the job. — I-Net Bridge