British platinum miner Lonmin on Tuesday said it had chosen Zimbabwe national Ben Magara to be its new chief executive after Ian Farmer last year stepped down from the role owing to ill-health amid a turbulent time for the company. Magara, executive head of engineering and capital projects at rival Anglo American Platinum, will begin his new role at the start of July, Lonmin said in a statement. "The board of Lonmin plc is pleased to announce the appointment of Ben Magara as its new chief executive officer and as a director with effect from 1 July 2013," the statement said.

By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 fell on Friday after a three-day rally, as investors backed away from riskier sectors and U.S. GDP figures came in below expectations. Material and energy stocks, which are sensitive to optimism over the global economic outlook, took 26 points off the FTSE 100, dragging the index into negative territory.

Three coal trucks were torched on Sunday at Colombia's Cerrejon mine, where miners have been on strike for the last two weeks, according to the Swiss-British-Australian consortium running the site. The consortium said in a statement that three trucks had been completely burnt and another partially destroyed as a result of a bomb attack at the mine in the far north of the country, near the border with Venezuela.

BOGOTA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Colombia's largest coal exporter, Cerrejon, and its striking union will meet on Friday for the first time since workers walked off the job last week, both sides said. Laborers at Cerrejon, a joint venture between BHP Billiton , Anglo American and Xstrata, went on strike on Feb. 7, the first walkout in two decades, after failing to reach an agreement over wages and compensation.