Kloppers heads for the door at BHP

His replacement - BHP’s base metals head Andrew Mackenzie - takes over at a time when industry majors are re-focusing on operational efficiencies at the expense of big capital projects. In fact, all five of the world’s leading mining companies have now announced a change at the helm since the global financial crisis began.

Mr Kloppers’ departure will be unlamented by some shareholders due to his inability to see through a number of high-profile takeover bids, including the aborted $40bn (£26bn) deal for Canada’s Potash Corp. He did eventually manage to secure around $20bn in US shale gas/oil assets, but the group has since booked substantial write-downs on these assets after the Henry Hub price tanked in the US.

Mr Mackenzie, like Sam Walsh - his new counterpart at Rio Tinto - has been chosen for his ability to drive through operational reforms and cost savings. It’s no doubt coincidental, but Mr Mackenzie’s base metals division was the only part of the business to record revenue growth during the period. Elsewhere the picture was hardly inspiring.

Underlying group profits (ex accounting and one-off items) fell by 38 per cent to $9.78bn. Despite improved production volumes, falling commodity prices reduced profitability by $5.4bn, with diminished contributions from the iron ore and metallurgical coal segments particularly noticeable. BHP’s net operating cash-flow shrank by 48 per cent to $6.4bn over the half-year. But Mr Mackenzie will take some heart from the fact BHP pared back controllable cash costs by $944m.