Marnie Finlayson was appointed Managing Director of Rio Tinto’s Battery Materials business in
2021, responsible for building Rio Tinto’s battery materials portfolio through targeted investments in
assets, technology and partnerships.
Prior to this appointment Marnie was Managing Director of Rio Tinto Borates & Lithium responsible
for Rio Tinto’s Borates operations in California and Europe as well as the Jadar lithium project in
western Serbia.
Marnie has deep mining experience and has held a number of senior leadership and operational
roles with Rio Tinto across salt, iron ore, diamonds, base metals and coal, including:
- General Manager of Rio Tinto’s subsidiary in Serbia, Rio Sava Exploration, in charge of the
Jadar lithium project
- General Manager Operations - Dampier Salt Limited
- General Manager – Port Maintenance with Rio Tinto Iron Ore
Marnie graduated from the Kalgoorlie School of Mines in 1997 as a minerals processing engineer.
She worked all around regional Australia and gained her first management role at the age of 30 with
Anglo American.
Marnie is passionate about mining, about mining making a difference, and about leadership in the
field. She has two teenage children and lives in Perth.