(This story has been refiled to expand the company name of Rio Tinto in the headline)

By Melanie Burton, Clara Denina

MELBOURNE/LONDON (Reuters) -As Rio Tinto searches for a new CEO, the miner will cast a wide net due to a very short list of possible internal candidates, sources said, in contrast with laser-focused succession planning at its main rival BHP. 

Rio, the world's largest iron ore miner, took investors by surprise on Thursday when the company announced CEO Jakob Stausholm will step down later this year once a successor is appointed. It gave no reason for the move. 

One source familiar with the matter said the board had held meetings on the succession in recent months with the help of executive recruitment firm MWM Consulting, vetting internal candidates including Bold Baatar, Simon Trott and Jerome Pecresse, while looking for external leaders too. 

"The next generation of big mining leaders will have to be more aggressive than the last. There's less copper around and they will have to take bigger risks to get it," said one person who consults for top executive appointments in the industry. 

Both mining giants are in the midst of changing CEO at a critical juncture as the hunt for copper is crucial due to demand for use in multiple technologies including artificial intelligence and the clean energy transition.

A febrile atmosphere characterised 2024 as diversified miners failed in pulling off big ticket M&A - something both companies might hope to succeed in with new leadership.        Among Rio's internal suite of candidates, Singapore-based Baatar, Rio's chief commercial officer, has found some strong support.

"We believe Baatar's communication, portfolio knowledge and problem-solving skills (as showcased during his role at Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia and Simandou mine in Guinea) would prove key in leading Rio," RBC analysts said in a note.

The Mongolian has worked in leadership positions in Rio's marine, iron ore sales and marketing divisions. He joined the Executive Committee in 2016, running the Energy & Minerals product group, before heading its copper division.

Head of iron ore Trott, a more than 20-year veteran at Rio, has brought to market its biggest new iron ore mine in more than a decade, in Australia, and is building out a huge programme of replacement tonnes. 

But he has faced pushback from investors because the quality of ore in Rio's exports has dropped during his tenure and has also fallen short of production targets.

OUTSIDE CONTENDERS

Pecresse was appointed head of the aluminium division in October 2023, joining the company from General Electric (GE) Renewable Energy. He worked at Alstom and Imerys prior to that, and is seen internally as a very sharp, but understated leader. His wife is French politician Valerie Pecresse.

Outside contenders include Newmont CEO Tom Palmer, who had also been considered in 2020, and previous OZ Minerals CEO Andrew Cole, both former Rio veterans.

That compares with a very strong internal cadre at BHP, the world's biggest listed miner, where CEO Mike Henry is expected to leave in the next year and a new CEO announced at the same time. 

BHP regularly rotates top talent through key roles so it has a depth and breadth of experience to choose from. Internal CEO candidates are mentored for years by the chair and some members of the board, as a sort of pre-screening exercise, a source familiar with the company said.

The company pledged in 2016 to have 40% female staff by 2025, which it is on track to achieve, and its top two contenders are women. 

BHP's Australia president Geraldine Slattery is well liked by investors for her operational nous, having previously led the company's petroleum business out of Texas. She has been at BHP for three decades. One investor described her as "steely".

CFO Vandita Pant is seen as a cool head in uncertain geopolitical times, having helped to steer ABN Amro and RBS though the thick of the global financial crisis, the latter where she worked with BHP's new chairman and former RBS CEO Ross McEwan. Pant joined BHP in 2016. A weakness could be her financial, not operational, background, some investors have said.

(Reporting by Melanie Burton and Clara Denina; Editing by Veronica Brown and Susan Fenton)