New IGO boss Ivan Vella says his first four months at the helm of the battling battery metals miner have given him a “clear handle” on the issues in the business.
Mr Vella joined IGO as its new chief executive in December 2023 after 25 years with Rio Tinto, in what could now be likened to a baptism of fire.
A $1.3 billion takeover of Western Areas and its Forrestania and Cosmos mines had started to unravel and ended with nearly all of the asset’s value being written off. His arrival also coincided with a price slump for nickel and lithium prices.
Cosmos is now being transitioned to care and maintenance and is expected to be mothballed by June. But Mr Vella has been trying to see the upside in joining a business that’s not at its peak.
“A lot of people said to me, ‘That must have been challenging’ but when you lower the tide you start to understand the business better. And to get that clarity very early is useful,” he told an audience at the Macquarie Australia Conference on Wednesday.
“So I think there’s two ways to look at it, you take price down and you put some challenges up, you really start to get a very clear handle on the issues in the business.
“If you’re going to join a new business, and you have some accountability to help set the direction of the leadership, coming in the low ebb in the market, with a few issues to deal with, is of course helpful in the sense that it makes sure your work’s very clear for the year.”
He is more upbeat about IGO’s Greenbushes lithium mine south of Perth, which it has a 49 per cent stake in through a partnership arrangement with Talison Lithium and US giant Albemarle.
In its March quarterly update, IGO said it had reduced its spodumene concentrate stockpile substantially by selling 200,000 extra tonnes to Tianqi during the quarter.