Oct 17 (Reuters) - Australian nickel-lithium miner IGO Ltd said on Monday its Chief Executive Officer Peter Bradford died suddenly on Saturday.

The company did not disclose the cause of death.

Bradford had led IGO since March 2014 and was also president of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) which represents over 450 firms from across Australia.

He most recently oversaw IGO's A$1.26 billion bid to buy nickel producer Western Areas Ltd as the company looked to beef up its portfolio with assets rich in nickel and lithium, both raw materials used in electric-vehicle batteries.

IGO said it had appointed Chief Operating Officer Matt Dusci as acting chief executive with immediate effect.

"Matt will continue in this role while the board conducts a formal search process for a permanent CEO, which will consider internal and external candidates," the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Upasana Singh in Bengaluru, editing by Deepa Babington)