Matthew Daley
INCOMING CEO: South32
’South32’s portfolio has evolved substantially in recent years and is well positioned for potential future growth with a strong balance sheet and attractive commodity mix'
MATTHEW Daley assumes the helm at South32 in February 2026 at an interesting stage in the history of the BHP spinoff. Its diversified portfolio includes copper, which the former Mother Ship is keen on, but it produces a fraction of the red metal compared to the mining giant. However, South32 punches above its weight in other rings. It is the world’s largest producer of manganese, which it extracts from South Africa and Australia. It’s also big on aluminium; at least for now.
Unless there’s a last-minute power deal with Mozambique, South32 will shut the Mozal smelter — a disastrous but unavoidable event without affordable electricity supply. Lead, zinc, nickel and bauxite are all also part of its mix, making for a diversified portfolio spanning geographies. Daley’s inbox will include wringing value from this asset base while overseeing the company’s ambitious pipeline of projects. On the exploration front, these include over 20 greenfield prospects and partnerships in Australia, Canada, Botswana and other mining hot spots.
In South Africa, in November of 2025 it partnered with the Automotive Industry Transformation Fund and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to inject R200m into rim alloy production in Richards Bay. On the global mining stage that is loose change, but it is a big deal in an area that has been wracked by social unrest and outright criminality and so it is a vote of confi
LIFE OF MATTHEW
Daley brings a wide depth of experience to the job, with more than two decades at the coalface of underground and opencast mining, smelting, refining, projects and commodity trading. An engineer by training, he is cut from the same cloth as many mining CEOs. He also established his reputation at a company that has produced more than its share of CEOs: Anglo American, where he was technical and operations director and a member of its executive leadership team. Then South32 snapped him up.
