Vanessa Torres

Vanessa Torres became the Chief Operating Officer in March 2024 and is responsible for Worsley Alumina, Cannington and Australia Manganese. She joined South32 in 2018 as our Chief Technology Officer, and her role was broadened to Chief Technical Officer in 2020.

Before joining South32, Vanessa was Vice President Operational Infrastructure for BHP Western Australia Iron Ore. She has over 30 years of global mining experience across Australia, Canada, Brazil, Peru and New Caledonia, and has held various senior roles at BHP and Vale in strategy, operations, projects and business development. Her multi-commodity experience spans base metals, bulk materials, battery minerals and precious metals.

Vanessa holds Doctorate and Master degrees in Minerals Engineering from the University of Sao Paulo, and a Bachelor of Science from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. She was a Visiting Scholar at the University of British Columbia, Canada, where her research focused on the application of artificial intelligence to the mining industry, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In addition to her executive role, Vanessa has a passion to make a positive contribution to the community and is a Director of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA). She is also co-founder and main financial supporter of an NGO in Brazil which provides free development activities to children.

Vanessa has been recognised globally throughout her career, including being named one of the inaugural “100 Women of Influence” (AFR 2012), inaugural “100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining (2013), and as the 2017 Exceptional Woman in Resources in Australia.