Antofagasta,
25 June 2008
Xstrata Copper's North Chile Division announces the appointment of Mr.
Stefan Buys as the new Chief Operating Officer of North Chile Division to
replace Mr. Jon Evans, effective 14th July 2008, who will be leaving the
organization to become the new CEO of Compa��a Minera Do�a In�s de Collahuasi
SCM.
Among his achievements, Jon Evans has been responsible for establishing
Xstrata Copper's new North Chile division, and for providing leadership and
management to the expansion and environmental improvement projects of the
Altonorte metallurgical facility, which upon completion will increase its
capacity by 30%, and turn Altonorte into one of the world's largest copper
smelters. In addition, Mr. Evans and his team conducted the expansion project
of Lomas Bayas Mine that will increase copper production capacity to 75,000
tonnes of copper cathodes, and will result in a significant extension of the
mine operating life.
Mr. Stefan Buys' wealth
of experience in the mining industry includes various senior positions at Xstrata
Alloys Business Unit, South
Africa.
"Stefan brings with
him a broad range of experience in the mining and metallurgical industries
that, along with our current management team, will provide the necessary
leadership to ensure the North Chile Division continues to implement its growth
strategy, to successfully implement a number of environmental improvement and
expansion projects at our operations in north Chile's Region II of Antofagasta,
and to provide important management and technical support to the Collahuasi
business in the Region I of Tarapac�", said Charlie Sartain, CEO Xstrata
Copper. "We are entering an exciting phase of growth for both the North
Chile Division and Collahuasi".
As the new Chief
Operating Officer of the North Chile Division, Stefan Buys will also assume
responsibility for the oversight of Xstrata Copper's 44% interest in Collahuasi
through his appointment to Collahuasi's Executive Committee and Board of
Directors.
ends
Xstrata Copper's North
Chile Division Contacts:
Name: Luis Lino ��������������������������������������������� Name:
Juan Pablo Schaeffer
Telephone: +56 55
416107 Telephone:
+56 2 478 2272
Mobile: +56 9 9699 8107 ����������������������������� ��������������� Mobile:
+56 9 9949 5245
Email: llino@xstratacopper.cl ���������������� Email: jschaeffer@xstratacopper.cl
Name: Emily Russell
Telephone:
+56 2 4782204
Mobile:
+56 9 7887 9487
Email: erussell@xstratacopper.cl
www.xstrata.com
Note
to Editors
ABOUT
NORTH CHILE DIVISION
Xstrata Copper's North Chile Division is based out of the city of Antofagasta
and manages the nearby Altonorte custom smelter and the Lomas Bayas mining
operation, 120 kilometres East of the city of Antofagasta.
It also administers Xstrata Copper's 44% share in the Collahuasi mine in
northern Chile's
Region I.
ABOUT XSTRATA COPPER
Headquartered in Brisbane,
Xstrata Copper is one of the commodity business units within the major global
diversified mining group Xstrata plc. Its operations and projects span eight
countries: Australia, Argentina,
Chile, Peru,
Canada, the USA,
the Philippines and Papua
New Guinea. Its operations are administered by
five separate divisions, based close to the mining operations, namely the North
Queensland, Alumbrera, North Chile, Southern Peru and Canada
divisions. It also has a recycling business (Xstrata Recycling) with plants in
the United States and offices
in Canada and Asia.
Xstrata Copper's world-leading portfolio of growth projects includes Las
Bambas in Peru,
Tampakan in the Phillippines, El Morro in Chile,
El Pach�n in Argentina
and Frieda
River
in Papua
New Guinea.
Xstrata Copper is the fourth largest global copper producer with annual
attributable production of over one million tonnes. It employs over 15,000
people, including contractors.
ABOUT XSTRATA PLC
Xstrata is a global
diversified mining group, listed on the London
and Swiss Stock Exchanges, with its headquarters in Zug,
Switzerland. Xstrata's
businesses maintain a meaningful position in seven major international
commodity markets: copper, coking coal, thermal coal, ferrochrome, nickel,
vanadium and zinc, with additional exposures to platinum group metals, gold,
cobalt, lead and silver, recycling facilities and a suite of global technology
products, many of which are industry leaders. The Group's operations and
projects span 18 countries: Argentina,
Australia, Brazil,
Canada, Chile,
Colombia, the Dominican
Republic, Germany,
New Caledonia, Norway,
Papua New Guinea, Peru,
the Philippines, South
Africa, Spain,
Tanzania, the USA
and the UK.
Xstrata employs approximately
56,000 people, including contractors.