Vedanta Aluminium Appoints David Stone as CEO – Coal Mines
9th September 2024
- David will head the coal mining operations of the company to boost backward integration
New Delhi, September 10, 2024: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest aluminium producer, announced the appointment of David Stone as the Chief Executive Officer – Coal Mines. In his new role, David will oversee the entire coal mining operations of the company, spearheading strategy and leveraging technology and innovation to optimize resource efficiency.
David’s expertise will be crucial to optimizing resource efficiency at Vedanta Aluminium’s thermal power plants in Jharsuguda and Lanjigarh in Odisha and Korba in Chhattisgarh, while also keeping a sharp focus on sustainable mining practices. The company has 5 operating coal mines with a combined capacity of ~40 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). These include Jamkhani, Kuraloi, Radhikapur, Ghogharpalli, and Barra – which is under exploration.
With a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years, David’s has a rich global experience in managing and operating resource businesses. He has held leadership positions in roles spanning growth phases, mergers and acquisitions, project development, and the seamless running of operations through to closure. He has consistently demonstrated a transformative ability within these businesses with a dedicated focus on creating shareholder value. His global experience in mining operations includes notable tenures with Anglo American, Xstrata, and Glencore.
“We are thrilled to welcome David to Vedanta Aluminium. His proven track record makes him the ideal leader to drive our mining operations, ensuring backward integration to secure raw material and reduce cost of production for our business. His expertise will be invaluable as we enhance our resource efficiency while keeping an eye on ambitious growth plans,” said John Slaven, CEO, Vedanta Aluminium.
On his appointment, David Stone, CEO – Coal Mines, Vedanta Aluminium, said, “I am honored to join Vedanta Aluminium and lead the coal operations at such a pivotal time when the company is expanding production capacity and is on an ambitious growth path. I look forward to working with the talented team to implement innovative strategies that will optimize our resources, reduce costs, and contribute to the company’s growth and sustainability objectives.”
As part of Vedanta Aluminium’s strategy for expansion and cost reduction, the company has laid out a comprehensive plan for backward integration, emphasizing the importance of a robust coal supply chain. The new coal mines will significantly reduce the cost of power generation by supplying the company’s existing thermal power assets. Importantly, Vedanta Aluminium is committed to not adding any further coal-fired capacity to its power portfolio. Therefore, maximizing digitalization and innovation to drive the highest levels of efficiencies of the coal resources is essential to meet sustainability goals for Vedanta Aluminium.
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.37 million tonnes in FY24. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 1st in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 world rankings for the aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
About Vedanta Limited:
Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa and Namibia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, the Vedanta group has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on social impact programmes with a thrust on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare, and grass-root level sports. Vedanta and the group companies have been featured in Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and was conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020, Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance 2022 and certified as a Great Place to Work 2022. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.
For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com
About Vedanta Aluminium Business:
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.37 million tonnes in FY24. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 1st in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 world rankings for the aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
For more information, please log on to www.vedantaaluminium.com
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Disclaimer:
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “should” or “will.” Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional, and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.
