By Melanie Burton
MELBOURNE, March 18 (Reuters) - Mining giant BHP Group on Wednesday promoted senior executive Brandon Craig to CEO, succeeding Mike Henry, who will step down after more than six years at the helm.
Craig, 53, serves as president for the Americas and led its Western Australia iron ore business for three years, giving him top level experience across BHP's two most important businesses.
"He's run the iron ore business, and the Americas is probably the most important business for BHP in the years
ahead," said Andy Forster of Sydney-based Argo Investments. "I reckon he's super impressive."
A naturalised Australian, Craig holds a Master's in Business Leadership and a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from the University of Natal, in South Africa.
The timing of his appointment was surprising to some, after insiders late last year said Henry still had plenty of energy for the role. "I thought Mike might be around for longer," Forster said.
HENRY'S LEGACY
In his tenure as CEO, Henry oversaw a major reshaping of BHP's portfolio, including an exit from petroleum, the scrapping of its dual-listing in the UK, and a shift toward commodities such as potash and copper, which accounted for the majority of BHP's profits for the first time in its most recent half-year results.
"Henry was the first CEO in years to leave behind a cupboard full of options for the next leader," said analyst Glyn Lawcock of Barrenjoey in Sydney.
"If you think about what Mike walked into, the cupboard was bare," he said. "They had tried to put options on the table with shale but it didn't work. Grades were declining at Escondida," he said referring to the copper mine in Chile that is the world's largest.
BHP is the world's top producer of the most cost-effective conductive metal that is key to the energy transition.
"He leaves behind now a vision for copper South Australia, a whole new copper precinct in Argentina and a pathway back to a million tons a year at Escondida," he said.
Henry oversaw several failed attempts at buying Anglo American to expand BHP's long-term copper exposure.
Speculation last year had grown that BHP would appoint its first female CEO with bets on head of Australia Geraldine Slattery.
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Sonali Paul)
