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误炸人类远古遗迹,澳矿业巨头力拓集团CEO被迫离职

误炸人类远古遗迹,澳矿业巨头力拓集团CEO被迫离职

Thomas Biesheuvel, David Stringer, 彭博社 2020-09-14
力拓集团在未来几年的一大问题就是修复与当地社区的关系。

力拓CEO夏杰思摄于2020年2月,他将在投资者对澳大利亚古代土著遗址遭到破坏的强烈反对中下台。图片来源:SIMON DAWSON—BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

因为破坏澳洲土著遗址而遭到投资者的强烈反对,澳大利亚矿业巨头力拓集团(Rio Tinto Group)的CEO夏杰思(Jean-Sebastien Jacques)将主动辞职。

就在几周前,该公司的董事长陶慕森(Simon Thompson)还表示,夏杰思在处理破坏遗迹善后工作方面得到了董事会的支持。受此影响,另外两名高管——铁矿石部门的CEO克里斯•索尔兹伯里和公司的企业关系主管西蒙•尼文也将离职。力拓集团在9月11日的一份声明中说,夏杰思将继续担任他的职位直到明年3月底,在此期间继任者也或将替代他的职位。

陶慕森表示,过去几周,约75名投资者与当地社区负责人进行了会谈,会谈清楚地表明,许多人对由董事会牵头的调查所提出的惩罚心存不满。此前,董事会公布的调查结果显示,没有任何个人对爆炸负责,仅仅取消了三名责任高管的年终奖作为惩罚。

陶慕森说:“很明显,个人责任落实问题只是重建信任过程中的其中一个障碍。如果重要利益相关者(指投资者)对这三位高管的改革计划失去信心,那么辞职将是唯一选择。”

今年5月,澳大利亚西部皮尔巴拉地区Juukan峡谷的铁矿开采区发生爆炸,爆炸波及了两个巨岩。据考古学家介绍,受爆炸破坏的遗址是澳大利亚土著居民在4.6万年前用来做饭和避难的地方,是澳大利亚最重要的同类遗址之一。

“修复关系”

夏杰思自2016年7月起担任公司CEO。他的继任者将需要说服西澳大利亚的投资者、监管机构和立法者,让他们相信力拓集团能够很好地解决其铁矿石部门的治理缺陷。据了解,铁矿石部门在上半年盈利中占比超过90%。这位新任CEO还将负责公司旗下至关重要的蒙古铜矿的扩建工作,该项目一直遇到拖延和预算激增的麻烦。

持有力拓股份的阿尔戈投资公司(Argo Investments Ltd.)的高级投资官安迪•福斯特表示,这可能需要一位具有澳大利亚铁矿石行业经验、善于处理社区关系并有能力带领公司完成复杂的成长型项目的高管。“很明显,未来几年的一个大问题就是修复这些关系。”他说。

墨尔本大学的副教务长马里卡•兰顿和一位著名土著学者于9月11日对彭博社称,力拓集团因为对西澳大利亚的社区情况缺乏了解而广受批评,该公司应当任命一名原住民进入董事会。

根据州政府的政策,该公司在5月进行的爆炸是合法的,但力拓仍然被指控称,有迹象表明这些遗址的重要性远高于一开始他们的理解,但公司仍然未能依此采取有效的行动。

夏杰思还在上个月的一次议会委员会听证会上说,该地区的原住民组织PKKP(Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation)没有被告知力拓有三种可以避免破坏Juukan峡谷遗址的选择,遗址的损坏本可以避免。该公司在一份声明中表示,PKKP将继续与力拓合作处理爆炸的善后事宜,并倡议“进行大规模的改革,以确保类似悲剧不再发生”。在声明中,公司拒绝对管理层变动发表评论。

陶慕森说,力拓集团的下一任CEO可能会面临一项漫长的任务,即修复公司与当地社区的关系。继任者处理能力表现如何,将衡量董事会换掉夏杰思这一决定是否合理。他表示,董事会将对内部和外部候选人进行评估。

陶慕森说:“高管们必须负起责任,修复大众对我们有效管理社区和历史遗产能力的信心。这将是一个持续数月、甚至数年的过程。”

现年48岁的夏杰思于2011年加入力拓,他的离职正值矿业高层出现大范围的动荡之际。据了解,采矿行业将迎接中国需求的长期放缓,并面对全球经济脱碳行动的挑战。矿业巨头必和必拓集团(BHP Group)今年1月任命韩慕睿(Mike Henry)担任新的CEO,而英美资源集团(Anglo American Plc)和嘉能可集团(Glencore Plc)的领导层更替也或将到来。

在夏杰思的领导下,力拓在伦敦上市的股票上涨了一倍,涨幅超过了必和必拓和彭博世界矿业指数(Bloomberg World Mining Index),该公司还向投资者返还了巨额现金。据悉,其股票在悉尼股市于9月11日收盘时下跌了0.6%。

力拓集团表示,另外两名高管索尔兹伯里和尼文将于今年12月31日离开公司,而伊万•维拉将被任命为铁矿石部门的新主管。(财富中文网)

编译:杨二一

因为破坏澳洲土著遗址而遭到投资者的强烈反对,澳大利亚矿业巨头力拓集团(Rio Tinto Group)的CEO夏杰思(Jean-Sebastien Jacques)将主动辞职。

就在几周前,该公司的董事长陶慕森(Simon Thompson)还表示,夏杰思在处理破坏遗迹善后工作方面得到了董事会的支持。受此影响,另外两名高管——铁矿石部门的CEO克里斯•索尔兹伯里和公司的企业关系主管西蒙•尼文也将离职。力拓集团在9月11日的一份声明中说,夏杰思将继续担任他的职位直到明年3月底,在此期间继任者也或将替代他的职位。

陶慕森表示,过去几周,约75名投资者与当地社区负责人进行了会谈,会谈清楚地表明,许多人对由董事会牵头的调查所提出的惩罚心存不满。此前,董事会公布的调查结果显示,没有任何个人对爆炸负责,仅仅取消了三名责任高管的年终奖作为惩罚。

陶慕森说:“很明显,个人责任落实问题只是重建信任过程中的其中一个障碍。如果重要利益相关者(指投资者)对这三位高管的改革计划失去信心,那么辞职将是唯一选择。”

今年5月,澳大利亚西部皮尔巴拉地区Juukan峡谷的铁矿开采区发生爆炸,爆炸波及了两个巨岩。据考古学家介绍,受爆炸破坏的遗址是澳大利亚土著居民在4.6万年前用来做饭和避难的地方,是澳大利亚最重要的同类遗址之一。

“修复关系”

夏杰思自2016年7月起担任公司CEO。他的继任者将需要说服西澳大利亚的投资者、监管机构和立法者,让他们相信力拓集团能够很好地解决其铁矿石部门的治理缺陷。据了解,铁矿石部门在上半年盈利中占比超过90%。这位新任CEO还将负责公司旗下至关重要的蒙古铜矿的扩建工作,该项目一直遇到拖延和预算激增的麻烦。

持有力拓股份的阿尔戈投资公司(Argo Investments Ltd.)的高级投资官安迪•福斯特表示,这可能需要一位具有澳大利亚铁矿石行业经验、善于处理社区关系并有能力带领公司完成复杂的成长型项目的高管。“很明显,未来几年的一个大问题就是修复这些关系。”他说。

墨尔本大学的副教务长马里卡•兰顿和一位著名土著学者于9月11日对彭博社称,力拓集团因为对西澳大利亚的社区情况缺乏了解而广受批评,该公司应当任命一名原住民进入董事会。

根据州政府的政策,该公司在5月进行的爆炸是合法的,但力拓仍然被指控称,有迹象表明这些遗址的重要性远高于一开始他们的理解,但公司仍然未能依此采取有效的行动。

夏杰思还在上个月的一次议会委员会听证会上说,该地区的原住民组织PKKP(Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation)没有被告知力拓有三种可以避免破坏Juukan峡谷遗址的选择,遗址的损坏本可以避免。该公司在一份声明中表示,PKKP将继续与力拓合作处理爆炸的善后事宜,并倡议“进行大规模的改革,以确保类似悲剧不再发生”。在声明中,公司拒绝对管理层变动发表评论。

陶慕森说,力拓集团的下一任CEO可能会面临一项漫长的任务,即修复公司与当地社区的关系。继任者处理能力表现如何,将衡量董事会换掉夏杰思这一决定是否合理。他表示,董事会将对内部和外部候选人进行评估。

陶慕森说:“高管们必须负起责任,修复大众对我们有效管理社区和历史遗产能力的信心。这将是一个持续数月、甚至数年的过程。”

现年48岁的夏杰思于2011年加入力拓,他的离职正值矿业高层出现大范围的动荡之际。据了解,采矿行业将迎接中国需求的长期放缓,并面对全球经济脱碳行动的挑战。矿业巨头必和必拓集团(BHP Group)今年1月任命韩慕睿(Mike Henry)担任新的CEO,而英美资源集团(Anglo American Plc)和嘉能可集团(Glencore Plc)的领导层更替也或将到来。

在夏杰思的领导下,力拓在伦敦上市的股票上涨了一倍,涨幅超过了必和必拓和彭博世界矿业指数(Bloomberg World Mining Index),该公司还向投资者返还了巨额现金。据悉,其股票在悉尼股市于9月11日收盘时下跌了0.6%。

力拓集团表示,另外两名高管索尔兹伯里和尼文将于今年12月31日离开公司,而伊万•维拉将被任命为铁矿石部门的新主管。(财富中文网)

编译:杨二一

Rio Tinto Group Chief Executive Officer Jean-Sebastien Jacques will step down amid an investor backlash over the destruction of ancient Aboriginal heritage sites in Australia.

The change comes only weeks after Chairman Simon Thompson said Jacques had the board’s backing to handle the fallout from the company’s destruction of the ancient sites. Chris Salisbury, iron ore unit CEO, and Simone Niven, group executive of corporate relations, will also exit. Jacques will remain in his role until the end of March next year, or a successor is appointed, Rio said on September 11 in a statement.

Talks with about 75 investors and Indigenous community leaders in the past few weeks made clear that many were unsatisfied with penalties delivered by a board-led inquiry that found no single individual was at fault for the blasts and reprimanded the three senior executives by trimming bonus payments, Thompson said in a phone interview.

“It became clear that this issue of individual accountability was just an obstacle to rebuilding trust,” Thompson said. “If these three individuals do not have the confidence of critical stakeholders to lead the required changes then we have got to move on.”

Explosions in May to open up a mining area at an iron ore operation impacted two rock-shelters—shallow, cave-like structures—in the Juukan Gorge region of Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The sites, used by Aboriginal Australians for cooking and shelter as long as 46,000-years ago, were among the most significant of their type in the country, according to archaeologists.

“Repairing those relationships”

The successor to Jacques, CEO since July 2016, will need to convince investors, regulators and legislators in Western Australia that Rio can address governance failings in its iron ore unit—the division that accounted for more than 90% of first-half earnings. The new CEO will also take on a flagship copper mine expansion in Mongolia that’s been beset by delays and a budget blowout.

That will likely require an executive with experience of Australia’s iron ore sector, an ear for community relations and the capability to usher through complex growth projects, said Andy Forster, senior investment officer at Argo Investments Ltd., which holds Rio shares. “Clearly a big issue for the next few years is just going to be repairing those relationships,” he said.

Rio, which is headquartered in London and has been criticized for a lack of understanding about community issues in Western Australia, should move to appoint an Aboriginal person to its board, Marica Langton, associate provost at the University of Melbourne, and a prominent Indigenous academic told Bloomberg Television on September 11 in a interview.

While the May explosions were lawful under a state government decision, Rio has been accused of failing to act on information that later showed the heritage sites had greater significance than first understood.

Jacques also told a Parliamentary committee hearing last month that the region’s traditional land owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation, were not made aware that Rio had three alternative options that could have avoided damaging the Juukan Gorge shelters. The PKKP will continue to work with Rio on the aftermath of the blasts and advocate “for wide-ranging changes to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again,” the corporation said in a statement, declining to comment on the executive changes.

Rio’s next top executive will face a potentially lengthy task to restore the company’s relationships in local communities, and the ability to carry out that work will shape the board’s decision on replacing Jacques, Thompson said. Both internal and external candidates will be assessed, he said.

“They will have to take responsibility for what is going to be a process running over months, if not years, of restoring confidence in our ability to manage communities and heritage effectively, and that will be one of the key criteria,” Thompson said.

The departure of Jacques, 48, who joined Rio in 2011, comes amid wider upheaval in the top ranks of the mining industry, as the sector prepares for a longer-term slowdown in demand from China and navigates moves to decarbonize the global economy. Top miner BHP Group installed Mike Henry as its new CEO in January, while leadership transitions are seen looming at both Anglo American Plc and Glencore Plc.

Under Jacques’s leadership, Rio’s London-listed shares have doubled, beating gains by BHP and the Bloomberg World Mining Index, and the company has handed back record amounts of cash to investors. Rio’s Sydney traded shares closed 0.6% lower on September 11.

Salisbury and Niven will leave Rio on Dec. 31, while Ivan Vella will be appointed as Rio’s new head of the iron ore division, the company said.

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