The Anglo-Australian mining group BHP Billiton has named Andrew Mackenzie, head of non-ferrous metals division, as its new chief executive.

Mackenzie, who joined the company in 2008 from Rio Tinto, will replace Marius Kloppers, who will step down in May 2013 after serving the company for almost 20 years.

Jac Nasser, chairman of BHP said that Kloppers had left BHP a safer and stronger company. “Despite an exceptionally difficult economic environment during his tenure, Marius and his team have delivered for shareholders, significantly outperforming our peers in terms of total shareholder returns,” Nasser added.

Kloppers said: “I’ve been very fortunate to lead one of the world’s great resource companies. Deciding the right time to retire was never going to be easy. However, after almost 20 years with BHP Billiton, 12 as a senior executive and nearly six as chief executive, I believe now is the right time to pass the leadership baton.”

For the six months ended 31 December 2012, BHP reported a 43 per cent fall in underlying earnings to $5.68bn.

In the recent times, four London-listed mining groups viz: BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Xstrata have made management changes.

The company started the search for a chief executive in 2012.