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Oscar Groeneveld
Over this and the next few issues of Review, we invite you to meet those responsible for leading Rio Tinto's key segments. Introducing Oscar Groeneveld.

Oscar Groeneveld has just completed five years as chief executive of Rio Tinto's Copper group. This makes him the second longest serving of Rio Tinto's six group heads, but he regards himself as a relative newcomer by the norms of the copper industry. "Many of our leading competitors are 'copper only' companies," he explains, "so their top people have often spent their entire career just in copper.

"By contrast, one of Rio Tinto's strengths is that we are able to draw on a pool of people who have moved through several different product sectors and so have experience of a wide range of operations and markets."

A mining engineer by profession, Groeneveld, 50, hails from Queensland, Australia. He joined the Group in 1975 and his subsequent career has involved extended spells in coal project development and mining, in aluminium smelting and in copper, gold and base metals. This diverse operating background, coupled with formal qualifications in engineering, science and management, meant that he was well equipped to take on the role of head of Technology in 1997, a position he held until being appointed Rio Tinto's "Mr Copper" in May 1999.

Groeneveld heads a business that has been engaged in a very active investment programme over the last five years, with capital projects totalling some US$1bn dollars having been put in hand. They include investments in three underground mining projects - at Palabora in South Africa, Northparkes in Australia and Freeport in Indonesia.



Oscar Groeneveld Over this and the next few issues of Review, we invite you to meet those responsible for leading Rio Tinto's key segments. Introducing Oscar Groeneveld. Oscar Groeneveld has just completed five years as chief executive of Rio Tinto's Copper group. This makes him the second longest serving of Rio Tinto's six group heads, but he regards himself as a relative newcomer by the norms of the copper industry. "Many of our leading competitors are 'copper only' companies," he explains, "so their top people have often spent their entire career just in copper. "By contrast, one of Rio Tinto's strengths is that we are able to draw on a pool of people who have moved through several different product sectors and so have experience of a wide range of operations and markets." A mining engineer by profession, Groeneveld, 50, hails from Queensland, Australia. He joined the Group in 1975 and his subsequent career has involved extended spells in coal project development and mining, in aluminium smelting and in copper, gold and base metals. This diverse operating background, coupled with formal qualifications in engineering, science and management, meant that he was well equipped to take on the role of head of Technology in 1997, a position he held until being appointed Rio Tinto's "Mr Copper" in May 1999. Groeneveld heads a business that has been engaged in a very active investment programme over the last five years, with capital projects totalling some US$1bn dollars having been put in hand. They include investments in three underground mining projects - at Palabora in South Africa, Northparkes in Australia and Freeport in Indonesia.
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Review is published by Rio Tinto, 6 St James' Square, London SW1Y 4LD, England Telephone +44 (0)20 7930 2399 Editor: Cherry DeGeer