By David Winning and Cynthia Koons 
 

SYDNEY--HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) has named Tony Pearson, former vice-president of coal miner SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (1878.HK), to be head of metals and mining for Australia in the resources and energy group, people familiar with the situation said Monday.

Mr. Pearson, who starts this week and will be based in Sydney, will help build out HSBC's investment banking capabilities in Australia, people familiar with the situation said. HSBC said in December it was expanding its global resources and energy group in Australia to build out its advisory capabilities in mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings and lending.

The bank has thus far appointed Roshan Menon, who joined from Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS.LN), to head up the group. Mr. Menon is responsible for the oil and gas and power and utilities sectors while Mr. Pearson will head up the metals and mining unit inside the resources and energy group, a person familiar with the situation said.

The resources industry has been a source of growth for Australia's economy in recent years, thanks to robust demand for commodities like iron ore and natural gas. But the resources boom has started to lose steam in recent months. The economic slowdown in China has led to a slowdown Australia's resources industry investment, causing the prime minister to declare the mining boom to be over.

That hasn't deterred HSBC, which has said it's growing the business to help its Australian clients access its international network. Chinese firms are still active acquirers of assets in Australia. Companies from China, South Korea and Japan have raised their bets in recent years on a wave of natural gas projects along Australia's northern and eastern coastline that are set to supply Asian economies with clean fuels for the next 20 years.

In the mining sector, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) said Monday it would sell its majority stake in an copper-gold mine to China Molybdenum Co. (3993.HK) for US$820 million. Earlier this month, Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. (YZC) offered to buy out minority investors in its Australian subsidiary, Yancoal Australia Ltd. (YAL.AU)

Mr. Pearson has a background in investment banking, having worked as a metals and mining banker for Citigroup before joining the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and then SouthGobi. SouthGobi was the target of a takeover bid by Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chalco, last year but the deal failed due to political opposition in Mongolia and the economic slowdown in China. At Citigroup, Mr. Pearson advised Australian and Asian mining companies on mergers, divestments and capital raisings.

In addition to building out the resources and energy group, HSBC also set up a project and export finance business in Australia last year. In Hong Kong, the bank has hired a number of senior bankers to its resources and energy group from firms like Macquarie and UBS.

-Write to David Winning at david.winning@wsj.com and Cynthia Koons at cynthia.koons@wsj.com