Willy Strothotte, who is the Chairman of Xstrata since 1994 will retire on May 4, at the conclusion of Xstrata's Annual General Meeting on May 4. Mr. Strothotte will be replaced by the Chairman of Vodafone, Sir John Bond. Vodafone is the world’s second-largest mobile phone operator by market capitalization.

The commodity bang had sent profits rising at mining powerhouse Xstrata as speculation increased over the future of its biggest shareholder Glencore.

The Anglo-Swiss company stated that it has seen an eighty six per cent jump in profits for 2010 to $5.15billion (£3.2billion) after a thirty four per cent rise in revenues to thirty and a half billion dollars.

Xstrata (XTA. L), the miner stated that coal production declined by six percent in 2010 with thermal coal output impacted by severe weather in the first quarter and in the month of December.

Total combined coal production declined to 79.9 million tons although the Anglo-Swiss miner came up with annual production records for coking coal and semi-soft coking coal.

Reports have revealed that Xstrata Plc., which is regarded the biggest exporter of power station coal, has approached a "substantial" Macarthur Coal shareholder, a move which has placed Xstrata next to Peabody Energy Corp. and two other competitor in a race to take over the $4 Billion firm.

Scrutinizing the case of Xstrata's violation of the limits in the emission of lead, the Government has now announced that it will not prosecute the group anymore.

Environment Minister Kate Jones has clarified that the laboratory hired by Xstrata had wrongly interpreted the figures.

Although Xstrata's second-half profits collapsed by 97% due to the fall in the prices on coal, copper and other metals, yet it has remained quiet confidence about the future as it looks forward to restore dividend payments.

With its proposed "merger of equals" with Anglo American showing signs of fizzling out, the Switzerland-based mining giant Xstrata intends launching a fresh bid for the world's third-ranking platinum producer, the South Africa-based Lonmin, which was earlier called Lonrho.

National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa has bogged down the proposed merger two mining companies, viz. Anglo American and Xstrata. The union fears that the proposed merger would throw them out of jobs.

Anglo which provides employment to 110,000 people in mines across South Africa, and in Botswana and Namibia, accounts for 3% of the country's GDP.

The Switzerland based mining giant Xstrata has confirmed that it has advanced towards its rival Anglo American for a potential merger deal worth £41bn to gain access to iron ore mines and control of the world's biggest platinum producer.