Anglo American Appoints New CEO

Anglo American Plc, majority stake holder of De Beers, named Cynthia Carroll as chief executive officer. This is the first time a woman will head the mining company founded in 1917 by Ernest Oppenheimer to mine gold.

Carroll, 49, is president and chief executive officer of Alcan Primary Metal. She will step into her new role March 1, succeeding Tony Trahar.

At her current position, Carroll's responsibilities include all of Alcan's primary metal facilities, research and development, technology and power generation with 18,000 employees operating in 20 countries around the world. The Primary Metal Group today accounts for approximately $12 billion in turnover and 75 percent of Alcan's earnings.

Her base salary at Anglo will be £900,000 per year, and she will be entitled to performance related bonuses, shares, and other executive benefits.