Fortescue Metals Group said on Friday Elizabeth Gaines will step aside as chief executive officer once her successor is found, as the miner moves from a pure play iron ore producer to a diversified renewable energy and resources firm.
Gaines, who has led the world's fourth-biggest iron ore miner for the last four years, will remain on Fortescue's board as a non-executive director and assist in the search for the new CEO.
The move comes as Fortescue's chairman and Australia's richest man, Andrew Forrest, pushes to turn the company into the world's biggest green energy group, with particular focus on its green power arm, Fortescue Future Industries.
Forrest hailed Gaines, who has been with the company for nine years, as one of Australia's "truly inspiring leaders." The company said she had chosen to assist with the selection of a new CEO with the full support of the board.
It did not set a timeline for her transition.
Fortescue has enlisted management consulting and leadership firm Egon Zehnder to help identify its next top boss and other leaders with "global experience across heavy industry, manufacturing, and renewable energy," it said in a statement.
In October, Forrest laid out an ambitious target to produce 15 million tons a year of green hydrogen by 2030, which could be sold to customers in Asia as either green hydrogen or green ammonia, used for fertilizer.
The company has committed to spend up to 10% of its annual profit after tax on the green push and is counting on securing funding from other investors to advance its projects.
Its shares slipped as much as 1.8% in early trading, while the broader market was down 0.4%.