JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mining veteran Bennetor (Ben) Magara has been appointed as the new incoming CEO of Exxaro Resources, effective from April 1.

Magara, a mining engineer with more than 35 years of mining industry experience, will succeed acting CEO Riaan Koppeschaar, who will continue in his role as Exxaro FD.

A former CEO of Lonmin and Anglo Coal South Africa, and former executive engineering and projects head for Anglo American Platinum, Magara is chairperson of Africa Mining & Metals and also serves as nonexecutive director on the boards of Weir and Grindrod.

With soft and hard rock mining experience at underground and opencast operations, Magara has a reputation for driving operational excellence and providing strategic leadership. He is credited with doing so at multiple large mining operations from his early days at Anglo American Coal and most recently, and notably, the stabilisation, restructuring, and turnaround of Lonmin plc and its subsequent disposal to Sibanye Stillwater, creating the world’s largest PGM producer.

In 2020, Magara founded Africa Mining & Metals, a mining and advisory company focused on battery metals and precious metals.

He has also spent several years in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining industry advising in the Copperbelt. He will remain an independent nonexecutive director at Weir Plc, a FTSE100 company, and will step down from the board of Grindrod as of April 1.

Exxaro chairperson Geoffrey Qhena spoke of Magara bringing a wealth of mining leadership, and global board and governance experience to Exxaro, along with a reputation for impeccable integrity.

“We’re confident Ben will stabilise the organisation and continue to drive forward our growth and sustainability strategy, particularly with the knowledge he brings from being chairman of our investment committee,” Qhena added in an Exxaro media release to Mining Weekly on Thursday, March 13.

Qhena also emphasised that Magara’s extensive experience as an engineer, mine manager, corporate leader, and listed company CEO, would be valuable to Exxaro as it continues to maximise the value of its current assets while accelerating prudent transition into a diversified minerals and renewable energy solutions business.

Exxaro lead independent director and nomination committee member Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi described Magara as a seasoned mining executive who is highly regarded for his people skills and emphasis on teamwork and collaboration and expressed delight that his appointment had the unanimous support of the Exxaro board. "As trusted and experienced CEO, he has excellent knowledge of the company and industry and is well-prepared to lead,” Fraser-Moleketi added.

Meanwhile, Koppeschaar was thanked by Qhena for playing “a sterling role” as acting CEO.

The net cash position of the large South African-based diversified Exxaro group, which has interests in the coal, energy and ferrous markets, increased to R16.3-billion at the end of 2024, up from the R14.8-billion at the end of 2023.

As such the board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company resolved to embark on a share repurchase programme of R1.2-billion and approved a gross final cash dividend of R8.66 a share for the year ended December 31 after delivering on guidance.

While prioritising safety, with no fatalities for 28 month in a row, Exxaro finishing 2024 with a 5%-higher group revenue of R40.7 billion.

Meanwhile, Cennergi, Exxaro’s energy solutions business, is well on its way to achieving its targeted installed capacity of 1.6 gigawatt by 2030, with the business recently announcing a partnership with G7 Energies in Karreebosch Wind Farm, which has secured an agreement with Northam Platinum to supply 140 MW of power to its mines over a period of 20 years.