HOTLINE: No room for sentiment – Kloppers

The news that a bank was raising the possibility of a sale of some or all of BHP Billiton’s mighty manganese assets in South Africa and Australia – the company is the largest manganese producer in the world – follows recent speculation that non-core assets such as aluminium might also be considered for sale by BHP.

The news that a bank was raising the possibility of a sale of some or all of BHP Billiton’s mighty manganese assets in South Africa and Australia – the company is the largest manganese producer in the world – follows recent speculation that non-core assets such as aluminium might also be considered for sale by BHP.

BHP Billiton ceo Marius Kloppers spent time early in his career working for Billiton Aluminium, including as chief operating officer and general manager of the Hillside smelter, one close observer of Kloppers noted to Hotline last week.

Following that he was ceo of Samancor Manganese – the unit that now controls BHP’s manganese assets.

This CV prompted Hotline’s source to wonder whether, had Kloppers begun his career working in iron ore, some of the company’s huge iron ore assets in the Pilbara might now be in play…

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