It has emerged that a top Irish construction sector boss has been appointed to a prestigious US mining role.

Laing O'Rourke Chairman and Chief Executive Ray O'Rourke has this month joined the board of mining group Anglo American.

He has become a Non-Executive Director and is the third such appointment at Anglo American since the mining group appointed a new Chairman this past summer.

Anglo American Chairman Sir John Parker said: "I am delighted to welcome Ray O'Rourke to the Anglo American board.

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"Ray has a proven track record in delivering complex and large scale projects around the world, mobilising large numbers of people with great success and applying leading project management practices.

"His entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to safety, engineering, innovation and the development of people will add considerable strength to our board," he said.

Anglo American is one of the world's largest mining groups and it is a global leader in platinum group metals and diamonds, with significant interests in coal, base and ferrous metals, as well as an industrial minerals business.

Mr O'Rourke, 62, was born in Mayo in the Republic of Ireland.

He founded the O'Rourke Group in 1977, having begun his career at Kier and J Murphy & Sons.

In 2001, the O'Rourke Group acquired John Laing, to form Laing O'Rourke, now Europe's largest privately owned construction company.

(BMcC/KMcA)