Glencore hires new industrial mining chief, copper head steps down

LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Glencore has appointed Peter Freyberg to the newly created role of head of industrial mining, the global trader and miner said on Monday, while its head of copper Telis Mistakidis retires at the end of the year. The London-listed miner said billionaire Mistakidis, who also owns a stake in the company, will be replaced by Nico Paraskevas. Glencore was ordered by U.S. authorities in July to hand over documents about its business in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela and Nigeria as part of a corruption probe. The company, which has shed 25 percent of its market value this year, mines copper and cobalt in Congo and had oil businesses in Venezuela and Nigeria. Freyberg was previously head of the company’s coal assets and will be replaced in that role by Gary Nagle, Glencore said in an update to investors. The London-listed miner also narrowed the 2018 operating earnings forecast range for its trading division, and pointed to weakness in its alumina and cobalt businesses.It said full-year marketing adjusted earnings before interest and tax would be between $2.6 billion and $2.8 billion at the unit, compared with its previous forecast of within the top half of a $2.2-$3.2 billion range. In production, copper output in 2019 is projected to reach 1.540 million tonnes from an expected 1.465 million this year. Cobalt output next year is expected to total 57,000 tonnes from a target of 39,000 tonnes in 2018. Jason Kluk and Ruan Van Schalkwyk are to be appointed as joint heads of ferroalloys marketing.