TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Shares in Greystar Resources rose 1,6% on Friday, after the company said it would replace its CEO and board of directors.

TSX- and Aim-listed Greystar has a large gold project in Colombia, but withdrew permitting applications for the mine last month, after the government indicated it would not approve the operation.

The company has reached an agreement with 18% shareholder Amber Capital to appoint Rafael Nieto Loaiza as president of the company, while former CEO David Rovig has been named interim CEO.

The positions have been held until now by Steve Kesler, who joined Greystar as CEO in February May, replacing the retiring Rovig.

Greystar said it agreed to make the changes after shareholders owning another 20% of the company indicated that they supported Amber's position.

Nieto Loaiza, who is a former Vice-Minister of Justice in Colombia, and another Colombian, Juan Esteban Orduz, have been appointed to the company's board of directors.

All the other directors have agreed not to stand for re-election at the company's upcoming shareholder meeting, and Greystar will nominate new directors proposed by Amber, the firm said.

“Obviously having a lot of turnover in senior management is never a good thing,” Loewen, Ondaatje, McCutcheon Limited analyst Michael Fowler said in an interview.

“But in this case it seems to be that they want to bring in more Colombian input, I think at the end of the day it's probably a positive.

“They've got to get closer to the powers that be down there in Colombia.”

Greystar said in March it had halted the permitting process for Angostura after it became apparent that the big openpit heap-leach project would not receive approval from authorities.

The company said at the time it was looking at building an underground mine instead.

“The company will focus on reformulating the Angostura project in continued compliance with the laws of Colombia and in a manner that is environmentally sustainable and socially responsible to the people and the state of Santander, whose concerns we understand and will address,” Nieto Loaiza said in a statement late on Thursday.

Greystar shares rose 5 Canadian cents on Friday, to C$3,14 apiece by 14:35 in Toronto.

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