Top 10: Mining Leaders in MEA

The Middle East and Africa hold some of the world's largest reserves of gold, platinum, copper, cobalt and iron ore.

The region also includes some of the most productive gold belts on earth, from West Africa's Birimian greenstone belt to South Africa's Witwatersrand Basin.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is home to around 70% of the world's cobalt reserves. Cobalt is a critical component in lithium-ion batteries, making it one of the most strategically important mineral regions of the energy transition era.

The executives leading operations across MEA navigate complex geopolitical conditions, rising sustainability expectations and rapid technological change. 

Mining Digital has ranked 10 of the most influential mining leaders shaping the region today.

10. Beyers Nel

Role: Group Chief Executive Officer 
Company: Harmony Gold Mining 
Operations: Gold, copper 

Beyers Nel was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of Harmony Gold on 1 January 2025, succeeding Peter Steenkamp. Beyers has been with the company since 2003 and served as Group Chief Operating Officer from January 2023.

He has 24 years of experience across opencast, deep and ultra-deep level mines and is a past President of the Association of Mine Managers of South Africa. Beyers reported a 60% year-on-year improvement in operating free cash flow in his first quarter in post. 

With nine underground mines across South Africa, he leads one of the largest gold employers on the continent.

09. Ian Cockerill

Role: Chief Executive Officer 
Company: Endeavour Mining 
Operations: Gold

Ian Cockerill has nearly 50 years of mining experience under his belt, having previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields and Anglo Coal, before his appointment at Endeavour Mining in January 2024. He began his mining career in South Africa in 1975.

Ian holds a BSc in Geology from London University and an MSc in Mineral Production Management from the Royal School of Mines. Endeavour's portfolio spans gold mines in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Burkina Faso. 

His combination of African operational knowledge and London capital markets credibility makes him one of the most influential figures in West African gold mining today.

08. Mike Teke

Role: Group Chief Executive Officer 
Company: Seriti Resources 
Operations: Coal, renewable energy

Mike Teke co-founded Seriti Resources in 2018, building it into one of South Africa's most significant Black-owned mining groups. He did this largely through the acquisition of thermal coal assets from Anglo American. 

The company holds long-term supply agreements with Eskom, making Seriti central to South Africa's energy security.

Mike served as President of the Minerals Council South Africa from 2013 to 2017 and was appointed Chairman of FutureCoal globally in August 2025. Through Seriti Green Developments, he is leading one of South Africa's largest privately owned mining groups through the energy transition.

07. Nompumelelo Zikalala

Role: Chief Executive Officer 
Company: Kumba Iron Ore 
Operations: Iron ore

Nompumelelo Zikalala is one of the most prominent women in African mining at executive level, and a regular keynote speaker at the Mining Indaba conference. 

Nompumelelo leads Kumba Iron Ore, an Anglo American majority-owned subsidiary and Africa's largest iron ore producer. Kumba's Sishen and Kolomela mines in South Africa's Northern Cape province supply premium lump ore to steel producers across Europe and Asia.

Kumba has faced a tough run of lower iron ore prices, but Nompumelelo has kept it profitable and central to Anglo American's earnings throughout. She runs the most significant iron ore business on the continent. 

06. Mike Fraser

Role: Chief Executive Officer 
Company: Gold Fields 
Operations: Gold 

Gold Fields had spent nearly a year without a permanent CEO when Mike Fraser took charge on 1 January 2024. He moved quickly to anchor strategy around four long-life mines and place underperforming assets on the market.

A proposed joint venture between the Tarkwa mine and AngloGold Ashanti's neighbouring Iduapriem operation was paused in May 2025 after AngloGold withdrew, though Mike has said the strategic logic still holds and he expects to revisit the combination in the coming years. 

In Ghana, he has grown Tarkwa's reserves by 70% and reached agreement with the government to hand back the Damang mine. His target of three million ounces of annual production by 2030 would cement Gold Fields as one of the biggest gold producers on the continent.

05. Richard Stewart

Role: Chief Executive Officer 
Company: Sibanye-Stillwater 
Operations: Gold, platinum group metals, lithium

Richard Stewart leads one of the world's three largest platinum group metals producers, with core operations across South Africa and Zimbabwe. Sibanye-Stillwater employs more than 72,000 people, making it the largest mining employer headquartered in Africa. 

Its platinum group metals operations are central to global supply chains for catalytic converters and hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Richard became Chief Executive Officer of Sibanye-Stillwater on 1 October 2025. He joined the company in 2014 and held senior roles across business development, operations and the chief operating officer position before being named CEO designate in March 2025.

04. Mark Hill

Role: President and Chief Executive Officer 
Company: Barrick Mining 
Operations: Gold, copper

Mark Hill was named permanent President and Chief Executive Officer of Barrick Mining in February 2026, having served as interim chief executive since September 2025. He joined Barrick in 2006 and has three decades of experience across strategy, corporate development and project execution.

Barrick's African operations span Tanzania, Mali, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mark has proposed an IPO of Barrick's North American gold assets, a move that would create a dedicated African and international gold business. 

The proposal could fundamentally reshape one of the world's largest gold companies around its African and international portfolio.

03. Alberto Calderon

Role: Chief Executive Officer 
Company: AngloGold Ashanti 
Operations: Gold

Alberto Calderon has led AngloGold Ashanti since September 2021, expanding its footprint into North America while maintaining a dominant position across Africa. 

African assets include the Mponeng mine in South Africa, the deepest gold mine in the world. AngloGold Ashanti produced more than 2.6 million ounces of gold in 2024 across its 10 operating countries.

Alberto holds a doctorate and has previously led operations across the petroleum and aluminium sectors. Africa remains the foundation of AngloGold Ashanti's production base. 

His decision to develop the Iduapriem mine in Ghana as a standalone operation rather than pursue a joint venture with Gold Fields reflects his view that Iduapriem is worth more developed independently. 

Alberto's decisions on portfolio management directly shape the economics of West African gold mining for years ahead.

02. Natascha Viljoen

Role: President and Chief Executive Officer 
Company: Newmont Corporation
Operations: Gold, silver, copper, zinc 

Natascha Viljoen became the first woman to lead the world's largest gold company when she was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Newmont Corporation on 1 January 2026. 

Newmont produced 6.8 million ounces of gold in 2024, including significant output from its operations in Ghana. Natascha had served as Chief Operating Officer from 2023, overseeing integration of major acquisitions across the global portfolio.

Before Newmont, Natascha held senior leadership positions at Anglo American Platinum, BHP and Lonmin across platinum, base metals and gold. Her career was built in southern Africa and her knowledge of the region's operational and community challenges informs her approach to African mining at every level. 

As CEO of the world's largest gold company with major West African operations, her decisions carry continent-wide consequences and her appointment marks a significant moment for the industry across the region.

1. Duncan Wanblad

Role: Chief Executive Officer
Company: Anglo American 
Operations: Copper, iron ore, diamonds, platinum group metals

Anglo American has one of the most complex portfolios of any mining company operating in MEA. Duncan Wanblad has spent more than 30 years at the company across copper operations, group strategy and the executive committee before taking the top job in April 2022.

Since then, he has led one of the most significant restructuring programmes in Anglo's 100-year history. Duncan divested diamond, nickel, coal and platinum assets to concentrate the portfolio on copper and iron ore, and rejected a major takeover approach from BHP in 2024.

As Chief Executive, Duncan has oversight of Anglo American's entire MEA portfolio. That includes De Beers' diamond operations in Botswana and Namibia, Kumba Iron Ore in South Africa's Northern Cape and Anglo American Platinum in the Bushveld Complex.

Between them, they cover three of the most strategically significant mining operations on the continent.

Duncan holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and a GDE in Industrial Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.