Jiao is among the leading mining executives interviewed for the "Mining Journal Global Leadership Report: Preparing for transformation" which is being published this month.

He said the industry was facing increasing challenges, such as relationships between miners and stakeholders becoming more combative "over a number of decades".

Jiao, 49, believes this position is wrong, based on the industry's goal.

"The mining industry's ultimate purpose is to work for the benefit of humanity, or as we say at MMG, we mine for progress," he said.

"That means mining for the progress of the company, for the industry, for the communities in which we work and then, ultimately, for the benefit of all."

Jiao is stepping down from his role in August this year, for a senior position at MMG's major shareholder China Minmetals Corp, and will remain on the MMG board.

He will be replaced by Geoffrey Gao, who is currently president of China Minmetals Non-ferrous.

This is based on an interview with MMG CEO Jerry Jiao as part of the ‘Mining Journal Global Leadership Report: Preparing for transformation', which will be published in late June. The report features around 20 in-depth interviews with the industry's leading mining executives and the results of our industry-wide survey focused on transformational influences (technology, stakeholder engagement etc) and the readiness of mining leaders to meet these challenges.