Africa-Press – South-Africa. Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) finance director Craig Miller has been appointed CEO of the mining giant, replacing Natascha Viljoen who will be departing after serving over three years in the role.
Miller will take over the helm of the world’s largest platinum producer on 1 October. Viljoen, who has served as Amplats CEO since April 2020, resigned earlier in the year to join US miner Newmont as its chief operating officer. She is currently serving a lengthy notice period.
Miller has been finance director since 2019. He began his career as a trainee accountant at Deloitte in Johannesburg and joined Anglo American in London as a finance manager in May 2000. He eventually worked as group financial controller, was chief financial officer of the iron ore business in Brazil and the coal business in South Africa, and was head of the group CEO’s office.
Miller said he was looking forward to building on Amplat’s strategic plans.
“Against the backdrop of macro-economic uncertainties, including high inflation and lower metal prices, we must remain agile, adapting to market realities while focusing on efficiency and prudent resource management,” he said.
Viljoen said Craig “has been an integral member of our leadership team, and will carry forward the important work we have done to put the building blocks in place for long-term success.”
On Tuesday, Amplats reported a whopping 71% dive in earnings in the first half of the year.
While the platinum mining business has always been cyclical, the factors driving the commodity cycle currently are somewhat unusual, Viljoen told News24.
These range from the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant economic and supply chain impacts, the Russian war on Ukraine and its impact on energy markets, and the global energy transition – the rate of which is being driven by policy decisions.
Shares in Amplats were up almost 2% on Thursday morning, but have lost more than a third in the year to date.
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