Diversified miner South32 has appointed former Anglo American director Matthew Daley as the group’s new CEO, bringing fresh leadership to the company.
The shift marks a pivotal moment in South32’s history, with former CEO Graham Kerr having been at the helm of the board since its separation from mining giant BHP over a decade ago.
Daley will join South32 in February 2026 from Anglo American, where he is the technical and operations director and a member of the executive leadership team.
He joined Anglo American in 2017 as group head of mining, and before that he was the executive GM at Glencore’s Canadian copper division.
Daley’s earlier career includes operational, commercial and project roles at Xstrata and Minera Alumbrera.
“The appointment of Mr Daley follows a comprehensive global search by the board, which included the evaluation of internal and external candidates,” South32 said on Monday.
“As we embark on this leadership transition, I want to recognise the outstanding contribution Graham has made over a decade of service through the company’s demerger from BHP and the subsequent transformation of its portfolio,” said South32 chair Karen Wood.
Wood said Kerr had been “instrumental in establishing South32’s values-based culture, building a quality leadership team and implementing our strategy, underpinned by a disciplined approach to capital allocation and cost management.
“His safety-focused leadership has enabled the ongoing delivery of our global, multiyear safety improvement programme, which remains core to the pursuit of improvements in our safety performance,” she said.
“Graham will continue to lead the company through the transition period, which will give Matthew the opportunity to get to know our people, our stakeholders and our many operations around the world before taking the helm.”
Kerr said when Daley assumed the role, he will bring fresh leadership to continue South32’s transformation into the next decade.
“In the meantime, I remain focused on leading the business in the execution of our strategy, including the work to deliver a step change in our safety performance and the ongoing transformation of our portfolio towards minerals and metals critical to the global energy transition,” Kerr said.
Anglo said on Monday it had appointed Tom McCulley to replace Daley as technical director with immediate effect.
“I am delighted that Tom brings his decades-long experience across the extractives industry to take up the role of technical director, leading our global technical disciplines from discovery through to processing, as well as our critical safety, health and environment work,” said Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad.
“Tom’s outstanding technical and leadership capabilities position him well to support our operations in sustaining their much-improved performance and identifying opportunities for further value enhancement.
“We congratulate Matt on his new role and we wish him every success. In his eight years at Anglo American, Matt has brought his considerable energy and passion for mining to his teams and the company as a whole. We thank him for his significant contribution, most recently his leadership in driving operational excellence, and nowhere more so than in the extensive safety improvement work that he has championed.”
McCulley and Daley would work together over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition until Daley’s departure from Anglo American later in 2025, the company said.
McCulley would continue as a member of Anglo American’s executive leadership team and would retain his responsibility for its crop nutrients business.
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