SYDNEY—The destruction of two ancient rock shelters in Australia this year cost three Rio Tinto PLC executives their jobs. Now, the mining company has promoted another insider, Jakob Stausholm, to chief executive as it battles to repair its reputation with investors, lawmakers and indigenous groups.
Among the decisions facing Mr. Stausholm when he steps up from the chief financial officer role on Jan. 1, is how to rebuild trust with the traditional owners of the Juukan Gorge caves that were destroyed by Rio Tinto on May 24 as part of an expansion of a big iron-ore mine in Western Australia.
Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest listed mining company by market value, must decide whether it wants to join with Chinese companies in a big African iron-ore development that could make its existing mines in Australia less profitable should the project weaken global iron-ore prices. Mr. Stausholm, a Danish citizen, will also need to steer the challenging expansion of a copper mine in Mongolia.
CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques was ousted amid the fallout from the destruction of ancient rock shelters, which contained a trove of artifacts that indicated they had been occupied by humans more than 46,000 years ago. He will leave Rio Tinto at the end of March.
“I am…acutely aware of the need to restore trust with traditional owners and our other stakeholders, which I view as a key priority for the company,” Mr. Stausholm said in a statement.
