Rio CEO steps up push to streamline sprawling miner

Rio Tinto Group’s new boss has told staff that plans to focus the miner’s sprawling corporate structure on its most profitable metals will be a blueprint for a “sharper, simpler” operation, though he stopped short of outlining long-expected job cuts.

In an internal memo, chief executive officer Simon Trott said a model built around aluminum, lithium, copper and iron ore would help the group “move faster, make better decisions and perform at our best.” The changes should mean clearer roles, speedier decision-making and less low-value work. He did not specify cost savings and staff reductions, but said it would “take time to work through the details.”

“The changes we are making are not incremental — they are fundamental,” he wrote in the emailed message shared with Bloomberg. “We are transforming to make life easier for our frontline and lift our performance. It will take discipline and effort from all of us.”

Trott — previously head of iron ore, Rio’s largest business — took the helm in August and has been under pressure to whittle down a company widely seen to have become unwieldy, especially under former CEO Jakob Stausholm. Overall group headcount increased by more than a quarter since 2020, according to a note written earlier this month by analysts at Barclays Plc including Amos Fletcher.

As part of the ongoing restructuring, Rio said in a separate memo Wednesday that lithium head, Paul Graves, will leave the company.

Graves, who was CEO of Arcadium Lithium Plc, which Rio bought for $6.7 billion, had seen his role diminished as the unit was combined with aluminum. Jérôme Pécresse, who was seen as a contender for the top job, now heads the wider unit.

In the memo, Pécresse said Barbara Fochtman, formerly chief operations officer at Arcadium, will become managing director of lithium.

Rio has also recently made changes to its board, with four directors stepping down earlier in October.

A spokesperson for the miner confirmed the email was sent to staff, but declined to comment further.

Rio employed close to 60,000 people at the end of 2024, according to its annual report.

(By Paul-Alain Hunt)