Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has appointed finance director Craig Miller to take over as CEO from Natascha Viljoen, whose tenure was cut short after she landed a job at US-based mining company Newmont Corp.
Miller has 23 years of experience in the industry. He has occupied various senior roles within the Anglo American stable, culminating in his appointment as Amplats FD in 2019.
“It's a strong internal appointment, which indicates continuity. Miller has been part of the C-Suite, which is reassuring to investors,” said Rowan Williams, director of Nitrogen Fund Managers.
Miller’s elevation comes as the market for platinum group metals (PGMs) is in flux amid growing sales of electric vehicles (EVs) and their potential impact on demand for autocatalysts, which use platinum or palladium to curb harmful emissions in internal combustion engines.
The PGM industry feeds off the automotive sector, particularly in Europe, US and Asia where EV penetration is now gaining traction.
The local mining industry more broadly is being constrained by rail capacity constraints, which has stifled exports. Coal miners, in particular, were unable full advantage of the boom in prices in 2022.
“Throughout the past four years, Craig has been an invaluable member of the leadership team and our board, leading strategy development and execution, and driving successful cost and value optimisation across the business,” Amplats chair Norman Mbazima said.
Miller started his career as a trainee accountant at Deloitte in Johannesburg and joined Anglo American in London as a finance manager in May 2000.
The company has started its search for a successor to Miller who assumes assume his new role in October, replacing Viljoen who was one of just a handful of women CEOs among the JSE’s top 40 companies.
Viljoen guided Amplats through Covid-19 and the outbreak of the war in Ukraine — the two black Swan events that are still rattling the global economy.
During her three-year tenure, the company’s shares were volatile, tracking unsettled commodity markets. They shot up to a record high of R2,525 in early 2022 before crashing to around R879.20, according to the Infront data.
Viljoen announced in February that she would be joining the Newmont as its COO.
She joined Amplats in 2020, becoming the first female CEO of Amplats, which traces its roots to the discovery of the world’s largest platinum reserves in the Bushveld complex in the North West in the 1920s.
Earlier this week, Amplats announced that interim profit plunged about R19bn as total PGM production fell and metal prices declined, prompting to the group to slash its half-year dividend by more than four-fifths.
Total refined PGM production was down 13.2% to 1.7-million ounces, as load curtailment from Eskom affected its concentrators and smelters.
Miller said on Thursday that against the backdrop of macro-economic challenges, such as high inflation and lower metal prices, Amplats “must remain agile, adapting to market realities while focusing on efficiency and prudent resource management”.
“We have the foundations in place for safe and sustainable operations and continued value delivery, and will continue investing in our growth projects in a disciplined manner.”
Update: July 27 2023
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