Sunday, December 20, 2009

LKAB appoints new President and CEO

LKAB’s board has today announced the appointment of Lars-Eric Aaro, age 53, as President and CEO of LKAB, effective1 January 2010.

“I am very pleased and I feel both stimulated and humbled by the task,” says Lars-Eric Aaro. “LKAB has seen fantastic growth during the last decade, even though this past year has been dramatic. Now that demand from our customers is strong again, we must continue to develop our products in order to maintain our position as a world-leading producer of iron ore pellets. At the same time, LKAB’s program of heavy investment in new main levels in the mines in Kiruna and Malmberget continues, as does the challenge this poses when sections of these communities must be relocated. I really look forward to leading the company and our people as we face the exciting challenges ahead.”

“Lars-Eric Aaro has the right experience and personal qualities to lead LKAB into the consolidation phase the company is now entering,” says board chairman Björn Sprängare. “Now, it’s a matter of pursuing cost-efficient production and realizing the urban transitions successfully. I am delighted that we have found a person like Lars-Eric, who has a solid background in the industry and is also capable of managing the task of defining the LKAB of tomorrow.”

Lars-Eric Aaro graduated with an MSc in engineering from Luleå University of Technology in 1981. He was born and raised in Vittangi, Norrbotten, and now lives in Luleå with his wife Siw, with whom he has two sons.

Lars-Eric studied natural sciences at high school in Kiruna, and then worked underground in the Kiruna mine for a year as a loader before beginning his studies at Luleå University of Technology. As a newly-graduated engineer at LKAB, he worked first as a mine area planner in LKAB’s Kiruna mine, and then as mine foreman and mining engineer.

In 1984, Lars-Eric became general manager of the Viscaria copper mine in Kiruna, which was then owned by LKAB, and in 1988 he went on to manage Boliden’s Aitik copper mine, outside of Gällivare. Subsequently, his career continued in the steel industry, where he worked as marketing manager and president, respectively, of Secoroc AB, a manufacturer of boron steel products in Fagersta. Returning to the mining industry and Boliden in1992, now as divisional manager for the mines in Laisvall, the Boliden area and Garpenberg, he later assumed responsibility for Technology, Prospecting and Business Development in the new Boliden Ltd. His next position, which he assumed in 1998, was president of Assi Domän Karlsborg.

Lars-Eric returned to LKAB in 2001 to head the company’s R&D, and in 2005 he was appointed Vice President Technology and Business Development. In 2009, he took charge of the new Sales & Marketing Division. Since 28 April 2009, he has also served as acting President and CEO of LKAB.

Lars-Eric is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) and holds an honorary doctorate in engineering from Luleå University of Technology.

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