As an insider, Rio Tinto’s choice of new chief is far from ideal after the Jukkan Gorge disaster. He has a lot to prove.

Rio Tinto was in a jam. 

Having spectacularly blundered by blowing up an ancient Aboriginal site, then having to be dragged kicking and screaming into clearing out those responsible, it was left with a hole the size of a coalmine in its top team.

Particularly when chief executive J-S Jacques announced he was to quit.

With the diverse impacts on global demand for minerals wrought by Covid, Rio had to get a replacement to steady the ship fast. 

But to pacify shareholders and the public, a “clean skin” from outside the business was the optimal outcome. 

And hiring an outsider capable of running a company bigger than many countries takes time.

So, they didn’t bother, promoting the finance guy instead.

It’s unlikely Jakob Stausholm knew much about the destruction at Juukan Gorge before it happened, but he will have been in some, if not all of the key meetings where they botched the aftermath. 

He is not, therefore, the ideal candidate to heal the wounds.

But he does know the business and can start straight away, bringing much needed stability.  

If he doesn’t mess up, he can fix Rio’s rusted reputation.  

That means overseeing a major change in culture in the company, hiring new executives responsible for social issues whose views cannot be ignored further up the chain.

It means having an open, transparent review of all the other agreements Rio has over Aboriginal sites.

It means creating systems where social considerations are not just a box to be ticked before laying out the dynamite.

In short, Stausholm must take fast, effective actions so such a calamity can never happen again.