Charlie Lenegan Takes Helms of Rio Tinto Australia

Charlie Lenegan will replace Brian Horwood as managing director of Rio Tinto Australia in March 2004.

Lenegan is currently president director of PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM) in Indonesia. He joined the Rio Tinto Group in 1981. He has worked in a variety of roles in Argyle Diamonds, Kaltim Prima Coal, Dampier Salt and Pacific Coal, and on feasibility projects in Zimbabwe.

He was appointed president director of Kelian Equatorial Mining in 2001 and holds a BSc Economics from the University of London.

Brian Horwood, who is retiring, joined the Group in 1969 and held a number of senior management positions in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the UK, including managing director of Dampier Salt and of Pacific Coal.

He was appointed managing director of Rio Tinto Australia in 2001. He will continue as chairman of Coal & Allied Industries Limited and Energy Resources of Australia Ltd, both controlled by Rio Tinto.