New man in the Rio chair after China rift walkout

Rio Tinto made a second stab at appointing a new chairman today, promoting cigarette man Jan du Plessis to the £1 million-a-year role.

Du Plessis, who joined the Rio board last year, is chairman of British American Tobacco, a non-executive at Marks & Spencer and chair of the Lloyds Banking Group audit committee. He walks straight into a row with shareholders over a $19.5 billion (£14 billion) tie-up with China's Chinalco that some investors would like ditched.

Rio is also battling to get approval from regulators for the deal, with Australian watchdogs in particular unsure whether the mining giant should be allowed to give an 18% stake and half of its key assets to the Chinese in return for a cash injection.

In January, Rio named Jim Leng, chairman of European steelmaker Corus, as its new chairman, succeeding Paul Skinner. But Leng resigned from Rio Tinto's board in February following a rift over the proposed Chinalco transaction.

Leng had favoured a rights issue to the Chinalco deal, a move apparently preferred by some investors because it would allow them to maintain their share of ownership in Rio Tinto.

"Our immediate focus must be on giving Rio Tinto the best possible platform to create shareholder value and to weather the tough and uncertain global economic conditions," du Plessis said in a statement. "Pursuing the completion of the transaction with Chinalco will give Rio Tinto this platform."