The Anglo dream team reunite as Christopher Sheppard once again reunited with Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan at Vedanta
Vedanta Resources Ltd just head hunted Anglo Ashanti Chief Operating Officer – COO Christopher Sheppard to head its Zambian subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines (KCM). Sheppard brings to the table 35 years of experience in mining and quarry having worked at Anglo American, Anglo American Platinum, Lonmin and Murray & Roberts Cementation.
Sheppard comes at a time when Zambia’s largest mine is grappling with operational challenges ranging from shaft outages and a new tax regime. Sheppard takes over from Naidoo Deshnee who was in charge of the copper and zinc operations in Southern Africa. After Deshnee moved, Venkatesan Giridhar, held fort for a few months pending Sheppard’s clearance.
Chris will provide leadership in delivering KCM’s vision of over 50 years of sustainable mining and operations in Zambia.
In heading a Vedanta subsidiary, Sheppard is once again reunited with Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, the former CEO and CFO of AngloGold. Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan was appointed Vedanta Chief Executive Officer in September last year and it appears he is successfully poaching his former ties to Vedanta’s global operations.
Vedanta’s Chairman Anil Agarwal, who is also mining giant Anglo American’s biggest shareholder with 21% stake, hired
Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan after former Rio Tinto Group CEO Tom Albanese was stepping down as Group CEO for Vedanta.
Under Venkatakrishnan’s leadership, AngloGold has reduced its so-called all-in sustaining costs by 16% and cut debt by one-third, the company said. AngloGold has started a search to replace him.
Agarwal’s recent appointments seem to skew towards leveraging off Anglo’s strategy which he aims to see in Vedanta.