The Northern Miner March 15 2021 Issue 6

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Turquoise Hill CEO quits on Rio Tinto meddling C-SUITE NEWS

Rio Tinto chairman to step down over caves blast scandal AUSTRALIA

| Backlash continues from 2020 incident

| Companies at odds over Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

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Inside the processing facilities at the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.

BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

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urquoise Hill Resources (TSX: TRQ; NYSE: TRQ) announced on March 4 that its CEO Ulf Quellmann is leaving the company after majority-owner Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) told the Canadian miner that it planned to vote against his reelection at the annual shareholders’ meeting in May. The board has appointed Steve Thibeault as interim CEO. Thibeault previously served as the company’s chief financial officer between June 2014 and April 2017. Tensions between the companies have grabbed headlines in recent months. They are at odds over roles and obligations in securing the remaining funding for the underground expansion of the vast Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia. Turquoise Hill had expected the underground expansion to cost US$5.3 billion when it was approved in 2015. Last year, however, the world’s second-largest miner flagged stability risks associated with the original project design, adding that amendments to it could increase costs by as much as an additional US$1.9 billion. The Vancouver-based miner warned at the time of further delays of up to two and a half years, with first sustainable production from Oyu Tolgoi’s underground expansion expected between May 2022 and June 2023. Rio Tinto had said in September it

planned to raise up to US$500 million through additional lending to develop the giant copper mine. The move, Rio Tinto said, would reduce the remaining funding requirement of the expansion to up to US$1.4 billion. By reprofiling, the parties sought

OYU TOLGOI LLC

more time to repay their debt, knowing that the principal of the extended debt, or in some cases even the interest rate on it, are not reduced. Any remaining funding for the See C-SUITE NEWS / 5

YMP AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED / 3

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io Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) Chairman Simon Thompson became the latest high-profile executive to announce his departure amid a backlash for the company’s destruction of two 46,000-year-old rock sacred shelters in Western Australia last year. Thompson, a former geologist and investment banker, said on March 3 that he will not seek re-election as a director at the 2022 annual general meetings, as he was “ultimately accountable” for the blasting at Juukan Gorge to expand an iron ore mine. He also regretted the fact that the destruction had “overshadowed” the company’s successes in 2020 — during which it paid a record dividend to investors thanks to booming iron ore prices. Non-executive director Michael L’Estrange, who led the review into Rio Tinto’s handling of the incident, will retire in May. The company said he needed to reduce his workload after “significant surgery.” L’Estrange’s internal examination of the caves disaster was later criticized by Australian politicians, including Senator Pat Dodson, who called it an “unsatisfactory piece of work” that was “full of mea culpas and corporate lingo.” The review concluded in August that there was “no single root cause or error that directly resulted in the destruction of the rock shelters.” But internal documents revealed in September that Rio Tinto had engaged a law firm before the blasting, in case the traditional owners applied for a court injunction to save the rock shelters. In addition to Thompson and L’Estrange, former CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques is due to leave the company at the end of March. He has been replaced by Jakob Stausholm, who was previously Rio Tinto’s chief financial officer. Rio Tinto initially penalized Jacques by cutting his short-term bonuses, amounting to almost US$5 million (£3.7 million). Last month, however, the company revealed that Jacques had finished 2020 with a substantial payout. Jacques received £13.3 million (US$18.6 million) under Australian accounting rules, up from £7.1 million (US$9.9 million) in 2019. Two other senior executives, who were in charge of the iron ore divi-

Rio Tinto Chairman Simon Thompson. RIO TINTO

sion and the unit responsible for dealing with Indigenous communities, also received hefty remuneration. Both Chris Salisbury and Simone Niven left Rio Tinto last year. The National Native Title Council (NNTC) welcomed the latest departures, adding that if Rio Tinto was serious about cultural change it would replace at least one of the outgoing executives or directors with at least one Aboriginal person. “They are signalling the right intent but the proof will be in the pudding, in the action that they deliver,” NNTC chief executive Jamie Lowe said in an emailed statement. The Western Australian government has promised to update Indigenous heritage laws that allowed Rio Tinto to legally destroy the sacred sites. TNM PM40069240


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