Antofagasta’s Arriagada, Collahuasi boss frontrunners for Codelco’s top job

According to local paper Diario Financiero, the list proposed by consultancy Egon Zehnder International also names Collahuasi mine’s top executive Jorge Gómez and internal candidates such as Nicolás Rivera (vice-president Codelco northern unit) and Mauricio Barraza (vp centre-south unit).

Other names circulating in mining circles include the former president of BHP Americas, Daniel Malchuk, and the current president of BHP’s Pampa Norte, Cristián Sandoval.

The search for a new CEO was triggered last month by the surprise resignation of Codelco’s current boss André Sougarret, a quiet individual who gained prominence when leading the rescue of 33 miners trapped in a Chilean mine in 2010.

Sougarret, a mining engineer, replaced Octavio Araneda less than a year ago and will leave the post on August 31.

Sources close to the matter told MINING.COM that the start date for the new CEO will depend on who is chosen. “An internal candidate would be able to take the post as soon as Sougarret if gone, but if the new CEO is an external candidate, it’s highly unlikely that the executive can start on September 1,” they said.

Codelco’s chairman Máximo Pacheco hinted this week that the company will be ready to announced its new boss before the end of August.

The hiring committee, which includes Pacheco and two other directors, is scheduled to meet on July 27 to go over the names put forward by Egon Zehnder.

The new CEO of Codelco could be announced on the next board meeting, set for August 31, which is Sougarret’s last day with the copper miner.

Production at 25-year low
Codelco’s copper production has fallen this year more than 11% to at a 25-year low, despite investing about $3.5 billion a year to revamp its aging mines.

The state-miner has recently been charged with the role of representing the Chilean government in new public-private contracts to mine lithium.

Critics have said that Codelco does not have enough knowledge and expertise in the lithium industry as it does of copper. Pacheco disagrees and has said what matters the most is Codelco’s track record in mining as well as its international reputation, financial capacity and experience with private sector partners.

“We would be an extraordinarily short-sighted company if we don’t enter the lithium business,” Pacheco has said.

Chile, the world’s top copper-producing country and no. 2 for lithium, has seen policy shifts this year, with President Gabriel Boric hiking royalties for mining companies and announcing plans for more state control over the lithium sector.