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Rio Tinto Names New CEO, Production Rises at Diavik
Production at the mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories topped 1 million carats in Q2, the third consecutive quarter of growth.
Simon Trott, head of Rio Tinto’s iron ore business, will take over as the mining company’s chief executive next month. He succeeds Jakob Stausholm, who has been head of Rio Tinto for almost five years. (Photo courtesy of Rio Tinto)
London—Rio Tinto, the sole owner of Canada’s Diavik Diamond Mine, has named a new chief executive.
The London-based mining company announced Tuesday that Simon Trott, the current head of its iron ore business, will replace Jakob Stausholm as chief executive, effective Aug. 25. Stausholm also will resign from the company’s board of directors.
Trott has been with Rio Tinto since 2012.
He was appointed chief commercial officer in January 2018 and became chief executive of the company’s iron ore business in March 2021.
Dominic Barton, chair of Rio Tinto’s board of directors, said, “Simon came into our iron ore business at a time of significant challenges and has been instrumental in rebuilding culture, strengthening external relationships, and setting us on a pathway for growth.
“Under his leadership, iron ore has become a center of innovation for the group, driving operational excellence, technology and operating model optimization, levers Simon can now bring to Rio Tinto at scale.”
Stausholm has headed Rio Tinto since January 2021, taking over for Jean-Sébastien Jacques, who was pushed to resign in September 2020 after the mining company intentionally blew up a sacred indigenous site in Australia earlier that year.
“I want to again recognize Jakob’s significant contribution to Rio Tinto at a critical time in its evolution,” Barton said.
“Under his leadership we have rebuilt relationships with key stakeholders, aligned our portfolio with the commodities where demand growth is strongest, and set a compelling growth trajectory.”
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The London-based mining company announced Tuesday that Simon Trott, the current head of its iron ore business, will replace Jakob Stausholm as chief executive, effective Aug. 25. Stausholm also will resign from the company’s board of directors.
Trott has been with Rio Tinto since 2012.
He was appointed chief commercial officer in January 2018 and became chief executive of the company’s iron ore business in March 2021.
Dominic Barton, chair of Rio Tinto’s board of directors, said, “Simon came into our iron ore business at a time of significant challenges and has been instrumental in rebuilding culture, strengthening external relationships, and setting us on a pathway for growth.
“Under his leadership, iron ore has become a center of innovation for the group, driving operational excellence, technology and operating model optimization, levers Simon can now bring to Rio Tinto at scale.”
Stausholm has headed Rio Tinto since January 2021, taking over for Jean-Sébastien Jacques, who was pushed to resign in September 2020 after the mining company intentionally blew up a sacred indigenous site in Australia earlier that year.
“I want to again recognize Jakob’s significant contribution to Rio Tinto at a critical time in its evolution,” Barton said.
“Under his leadership we have rebuilt relationships with key stakeholders, aligned our portfolio with the commodities where demand growth is strongest, and set a compelling growth trajectory.”
Also this week, Rio Tinto released its second quarter 2025 production figures, including for its one remaining diamond mine, the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada.
Production at Diavik reached 1.24 million carats in Q2, up 76 percent from 702,000 in Q2 2024.
The second quarter 2025 marked the third quarter in a row of production growth at the mine.
A total of 775,000 carats were recovered in the fourth quarter 2024. That increased to 942,000 carats in Q1 2025 before topping 1 million carats in the most recent quarter.
Diavik faced a series of challenges in 2024, starting with a plane crash in January that killed four mine workers and led to a production pause, the subsidence (sinking) of one of the mine’s access roads, and the overall weaker market for diamonds.
Rio Tinto also noted that it ended open-pit mining on the A21 pipe in 2024.
In late 2024, the mining company began the first of two phases of commercial production underground at A21, an investment projected to extend the mine’s life into the first quarter of 2026.
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