BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser announces he will not seek re-election next year
The chairman of BHP Billiton will step down next year after seven years of leading the board of the world's biggest miner.
Australian Jac Nasser, who was appointed chairman in March 2010 and has been a board member since 2006, told shareholders at BHP's annual meeting in London today that he will not seek re-election next year.
"Last year, I had intended to announce my retirement from the board," Nasser said.
"However, the board believed it was important that I continue on as chairman to provide stability as we responded to Samarco. Now that the basic structure of the Samarco response is in place, the findings of the expert panel have been published, the compensation and remediation programmes have been initiated and with BHP Billiton in robust shape, I have decided that I will not seek re-election at next year's annual meeting."
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A dam collapse at the Brazil-based Samarco mine killed 19 people and destroyed the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues.
Nasser had a 33-year career with Ford, including a three-year stint as chief executive, and is also a director of 21st Century Fox and Koc Holding.
Shares in the FTSE 100-listed miner were trading flat (up 0.12 per cent) shortly after the announcement at 1,219.5p per share.
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At its meeting, BHP Billiton has also today announced a new target for half of its workforce to be women by 2025.
Reporting on its third quarter operational performance yesterday, BHP said that despite a production hiccup at its Olympic Dam copper mine in South Australia, group production and unit cost guidance remained unchanged for the 2017 financial year.