Johan will be responsible for technology, centres of excellence, innovation, closed sites, projects, value engineering, and exploration at BHP.
BHP, an Australian multinational mining and metals public company, has appointed South African executive Johan van Jaarsveld as its new CTO, effective March 2024.
“I am incredibly honoured to lead this talented team. There are so many great ideas, technologies and innovations being examined around the world. I look forward to working with the team to embed the best of these into our operational plans to make BHP safer and more productive,” Johan wrote on his LinkedIn page.
Johan has extensive international exposure in the financial services industry. He previously served as the managing director at Blackstone, and the managing director at Goldman Sachs, both in Hong Kong. Johan entered the mining industry in 2015 when he was the senior vice president for business development at Barrick Gold Corporation, located in Toronto, Canada, and joined BHP a year later. Johan is currently the chief development officer at BHP, until he starts his new role as CTO in March next year.
He holds a bachelor in chemical engineering from Stellenbosch University, a master of commerce from Melbourne Business School, and PhD in extractive metallurgy from the University of Melbourne.
Johan is one of three new appointees earmarked to start in March 2024, including Vandita Pant, who has been appointed as the new CFO, and Rag Udd, appointed as the new chief commercial officer at BHP.