Outgoing Antofagasta CEO Diego Hernández
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Chile-focused copper miner Antofagasta on Friday announced that Diego Hernández would retire and immediately start a process to hand over the reins to Antofagasta Minerals CEO Iván Arriagada.
The LSE-listed company advised that copper industry veteran Hernández would stay on as an adviser to the board, after serving as CEO for three-and-a-half years.
Since joining Antofagasta, Arriagada had led a rigorous cost reduction programme, focusing on maintaining the company´s strong balance sheet while ensuring all of the company´s operations were generating operating cash flow at current copper prices.
He had held the position of CEO of Antofagasta Minerals since February 2015, working closely with Hernández on integrating management practices to strengthen the mining division as the industry continued to adapt to challenging market conditions.
“With 25 years of operational and financial experience in the mining and oil and gas industry, including leading Antofagasta Minerals, Iván is the right person to succeed Diego and to continue to deliver the group’s strategy. His strong leadership has proven effective to navigate the current challenges of low copper prices without losing our ability to grow and develop in the future,” stated chairperson Jean-Paul Luksic.