Rio Tinto announced Wednesday it is appointing Jim Leng as the new Chairman succeeding Paul Skinner.

Skinner will step down as Chairman of the mining company on April 20.

Shares of Rio Tinto on the New York Stock Exchange dropped 12.97 percent or 11.93 to $80.01 a share by 10:34 a.m.

Mr Leng is currently Deputy Chairman of Tata Steel Ltd in India, a position he has held since Corus Group was acquired by Tata Steel in 2007. He is also Chairman of Tata Steel Europe, since 2003 and was CEO of chemical company Laporte plc and Low and Bonar plc.

Tata steel