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South Africa:
“I am delighted to welcome Natascha Viljoen as CEO of Anglo American Platinum. Natascha is a seasoned senior executive, bringing 28 years of operational experience from across our mining industry, spanning many different countries, metals and minerals including, of course, the PGMs. She knows us and our business well, having worked with our executive team over the last five years in leading the changes required to transform the performance of – and commercial value from – our processing operations.”
Norman Mbazima
ChairmanAngloAmerican Platinum
The Board of Anglo American Platinum Limited has announced the appointment of Natascha Viljoen as CEO, with effect from 16 April 2020, following Chris Griffith’s decision to step down after more than seven years to pursue other career opportunities.
Norman Mbazima, Chairman of Anglo American Platinum, said: “I am delighted to welcome
Natascha Viljoen as CEO of Anglo American Platinum. Natascha is a seasoned senior executive,
bringing 28 years of operational experience from across our mining industry, spanning many
different countries, metals and minerals including, of course, the PGMs. She knows us and our
business well, having worked with our executive team over the last five years in leading the
changes required to transform the performance of – and commercial value from – our processing
operations.”
Ms Viljoen is currently Group Head of Processing for Anglo American, a role she has held since
2014. In that role, she has led a trusted global team that has unlocked value across Anglo
American’s processing operations safely and with a long term perspective, recognising their
critical commercial place in the mining value chain. Prior to joining Anglo American, Natascha was Executive Vice President of Processing at Lonmin while also leading the company’s sustainability, employee health, environmental and stakeholder relations work at various times.
Natascha began her career as an engineer at Iscor and, amongst other roles, took on leadership positions at AngloGold and was General Manager of BHP’s Klipspruit Colliery before joining Lonmin in 2008. Under Natascha’s leadership, her team has successfully leveraged and accelerated technology development and deployment to unlock the full potential of mineral endowments through processing, delivering significant financial value and competitive advantage. She and her team are recognised for their work in developing Coarse Particle Recovery technology which enables the separation of metals from rock using a fraction of the energy and water of traditional methods, while increasing throughput and productivity.
Natascha Viljoen said: “I feel really excited to take on my new role at Anglo American Platinum
and I am fortunate to inherit a business in such a strong position. Chris Griffith has reshaped our
PGMs portfolio to be fit for the future and I believe we now have an opportunity to re-imagine how
we operate – in our mines and our host communities. It is also our responsibility to build upon
the wide variety of applications for our platinum group metals that already play a critical role in
so many areas of modern life, from clean transport and energy, to health and jewellery, of course.
“Safety is paramount, always, while building a purpose-led high performance culture with
stakeholders front of mind is critical to the future of our business. We will work to ensure that
what we do and the benefits we bring for all our stakeholders are sustainable in every sense.”
Natascha Viljoen will join Anglo American Platinum on 1 April 2020 and the Group Management
Committee of Anglo American plc on 16 April 2020.
Natascha Viljoen, age 49, has been Group Head of Processing for Anglo American since 2014,
following six years at Lonmin, where she served on the Executive Committee as EVP of
Processing, also with responsibility for a number or wider corporate functions including
sustainability. Prior to that, Natascha worked for BHP’s coal and chrome businesses in South
Africa (including as General Manager of BHP’s Klipspruit Colliery), the Modikwa JV between
Anglo American Platinum and African Rainbow Minerals, and AngloGold. Natascha began her
career in 1991 at Iscor as a trainee engineer.
Natascha serves on advisory boards of the chemical engineering faculties at the Universities of
Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Queensland University’s JKMRC (Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral
Research Centre), and has served as a non-executive director on the board of Kumba Iron Ore.
Natascha is a Metallurgical Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Engineering from North-West
University in South Africa and an Executive MBA from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
In 2019, Natascha was recognised by Mines & Money with the “Unsung Hero” award, for her
work on Coarse Particle Recovery technology. She is married with two children.