(Reuters) - BHP Group ( BHP ) is likely to appoint Geraldine Slattery, the miner's current head of Australia, as its first female chief executive to replace current CEO Mike Henry, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

Henry is expected to step down by the middle of 2026 after five years as CEO, the report said, citing unnamed people "familiar with the board's thinking", FT said.

However, the company said the board was "not in a rush" to make a change, the report added.

BHP did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Slattery has been at BHP for three decades and previously led the company's U.S. petroleum business.

Peer Rio Tinto had also appointed insider Simon Trott as its new CEO in mid-July. Trott earlier headed the company's most profitable iron ore unit.