Melbourne, March 11, 2026, 08:41 AEDT.
BHP Group Ltd’s Australia President Geraldine Slattery has moved to the centre of two succession stories in Australia’s resources sector, with The Australian reporting on March 11 that she is being watched as a leading internal option to eventually succeed BHP Chief Executive Mike Henry. Reuters reported on March 8 that Slattery is also among the contenders for the vacant CEO post at Woodside Energy. 1
That matters now because Slattery runs BHP’s Australia business, spanning iron ore, copper, nickel and coal, and any move would hit one of the miner’s most senior operating roles just as BHP leans harder into copper growth. The company’s next quarterly production update is due on April 22. 2
Woodside has said it plans to announce a permanent CEO in the first quarter of 2026 and would not comment on market speculation. Reuters reported that acting CEO Liz Westcott and two other internal candidates were also in the running, while The West said on March 11 that interviews were under way. 3
BHP has not commented publicly on the latest succession chatter. Reuters reported in May 2025 that the company had a deeper internal bench than Rio Tinto and that Slattery, alongside CFO Vandita Pant, was among its strongest internal options; the same report said investors liked Slattery’s record running operations after her time leading BHP’s petroleum arm. 4
The question of who runs BHP next lands at a sensitive point for the miner. In February, BHP posted a 22% rise in first-half underlying attributable profit to $6.2 billion, with copper contributing 51% of group operating earnings for the first time and overtaking iron ore. 5
Mike Henry used that update to underline the company’s direction. BHP was pursuing “growth in copper and potash,” he said, while also flagging that portfolio and asset management could unlock up to $10 billion of value. 6
Rival Rio Tinto has already completed its own handover, appointing insider Simon Trott as CEO last year. That leaves BHP among the sector’s biggest names still balancing a live succession question with the industry’s scramble for more copper. 7
Saul Kavonic, an analyst at MST Marquee, told the Australian Financial Review in January that Woodside’s next chief may need “a more commercial background.” The description fits Slattery’s background: she previously ran BHP’s petroleum business before it was folded into Woodside. 8
But the picture can still shift quickly. Woodside could choose an internal executive, Slattery could stay at BHP, and BHP’s board may prefer to move carefully while the miner juggles tougher iron ore talks with China and large spending plans across potash and copper. 3
For now, the reporting has pushed succession back near the top of the BHP story. At a miner where copper has just overtaken iron ore in earnings, the next chief will matter well beyond Melbourne. 5
