Solgold CEO handed shareholder rebuke at annual meeting

18th December 2020 By: Reuters

Solgold CEO handed shareholder rebuke at annual meeting

Nick Mather

Gold and copper miner Solgold's CEO Nick Mather was handed a strong rebuke on Thursday, with nearly half of the company's shareholders voting against his reappointment to the miner's board.

Solgold, backed by BHP and Newcrest , has sparred with two of its largest shareholders over funding for its mammoth Ecuador copper-gold project.

Solgold said in a release that 44.7% of investors voted against reappointing Mather as director at Thursday's annual meeting.

The Ecuador-focused company agreed in May a financing package of up to $150-million and a $15-million bridge loan for its Alpala project with streaming company Franco-Nevada , defying Newcrest, which had urged it to raise funds via equity.

Solgold did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shareholder Cornerstone Capital Resources, which owns a 7.5% stake, called in July for a complete overhaul of the miner's board, a move Mather had called "unnecessarily destablising."