Published: June 17, 2025 |

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Matthew Daley
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South32 Limited said Matthew Daley will join the company as deputy chief executive officer on February 2, 2026 and will assume the role of chief executive officer when Graham Kerr steps down from the role later in 2026.

Matthew Daley will join South32 from Anglo American, where he is currently the technical and operations director and a member of the executive leadership team. He joined Anglo American in 2017 as group head of mining, and prior to that he was the executive general manager for Glencore’s Canadian copper division. Daley’s earlier career included operational, commercial, and project roles with Xstrata and Minera Alumbrera.

The appointment of Matthew Daley follows a comprehensive global search by the board, which included the evaluation of internal and external candidates.

“As we embark on this leadership transition, I want to recognize the outstanding contribution Graham has made over a decade of service through the company’s demerger from BHP and the subsequent transformation of its portfolio. As inaugural CEO, Graham has been instrumental in establishing South32’s values-based culture, building a quality leadership team, and implementing our strategy, underpinned by a disciplined approach to capital allocation and cost management. His safety-focused leadership has enabled the ongoing delivery of our global, multi-year Safety Improvement Program which remains core to the pursuit of improvements in our safety performance,” said South32 Chair Karen Wood.

“Graham will continue to lead the company through the transition period which will give Matthew the opportunity to get to know our people, our stakeholders and our many operations around the world before taking the helm. Matthew is a highly accomplished executive with extensive operational and leadership experience, including in copper and in the Americas, and the board is confident he is the right successor for Graham,” added Wood.

“It has been an honor to be part of South32 and lead the business through its first ten years. From defining the company’s purpose, strategy and values, to transforming its portfolio and setting it up for long term success, I’m proud of all we have achieved since 2015. When Matthew assumes the role, he will bring fresh leadership to continue South32’s transformation into the next decade,” said South32 CEO Graham Kerr.

“In the meantime, I remain focused on leading the business in the execution of our strategy, including the work to deliver a step change in our safety performance and the ongoing transformation of our portfolio towards minerals and metals critical to the global energy transition,” added Kerr.

“I am delighted to be joining South32 and look forward to working with Graham and his leadership team as I transition into the role of CEO. South32’s portfolio has evolved substantially in recent years and is well positioned for potential future growth with a strong balance sheet, an attractive commodity mix, and a pipeline of options in highly prospective regions,” said incoming Deputy Chief Executive Officer Matthew Daley.

Matthew Daley is an executive in the mining and metals industry with more than 20 years’ experience spanning underground and open cut mining, smelting, refining, projects and commodity trading. He has held leadership roles around the world in operations, regional management, and as a corporate executive across a range of commodities and disciplines.

Daley is currently the technical and operations director at Anglo American and a member of the executive leadership team. His previous roles include group head of Mining at Anglo American, executive general manager for Glencore’s Canadian copper division, project head at Minera Alumbrera for the Agua Rica Project in Argentina, trader for Xstrata based in Dubai, and mine manager for Xstrata at the Mount Isa Copper Mine in Queensland, Australia.

Daley holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) (Hons) from the University of South Australia. He is currently based in the United Kingdom and intends to relocate to Australia in his role with South32.

South32 operates as a diversified metals and mining company in Australia, India, China, Japan, the Middle East, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, the United States, and internationally. Located in a historic mining district in the Patagonia Mountains of Southern Arizona, South32’s Hermosa project is currently the only advanced mine development project in the United States that could produce two federally designated critical minerals — manganese and zinc — both of which are essential minerals for powering the nation’s clean energy future. It has a portfolio of assets producing bauxite, alumina, aluminum, copper, silver, lead, zinc, nickel, metallurgical coal, manganese, ferronickel, and other base metals.

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