London — BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser, one of the most powerful figures in the mining industry, will retire at next year’s shareholder meeting. He told investors on Thursday that, after a decade on the board, it was time to step down. The former Ford Motor Company chief, nicknamed Jac the Knife after extensive cost-cutting efforts there, said he had intended to leave BHP in 2015, but agreed to stay on to provide stability as the world’s biggest miner responded to the deadly Samarco dam disaster in Brazil. Now that the "basic structure of the Samarco response is in place", Nasser said in a speech at the 2016 annual general meeting (AGM), he would not seek re-election. He will carry on leading the board in the interim, while a replacement is found. Brazilian prosecutors on Thursday charged 21 people with "qualified homicide" for their roles in the disaster, including the former CE of Samarco. Nasser’s move marks a generational shift in the mining industry, which over the past deca...
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