Shareholders of Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk voted on Monday against reinstating co-founder Pavel Maslovskiy and other members of the company's board and called for an investigation into transactions over the past three years, the latest salvo in a battle for control of the group.
Maslovskiy, who was CEO, and other board members were voted off the board in June but the old board challenged the validity of that vote.
Shares in the London-listed company, which has a history of boardroom conflicts, fell more than 8% after Monday's vote. They recovered some losses and were down 2.3% by 16:35 GMT.
The current stand-off pits four shareholders led by rival miner and largest shareholder Uzhuralzoloto (UGC), owned by Russian billionaire Konstantin Strukov, against the old board which is backed by asset manager Prosperity Capital Management.
Shareholders also approved an independent investigation of related party transactions during the three years prior to the date of the meeting.
Shareholder Everest Alliance, which holds a 6.5% stake in Petropavlovsk, voted against reinstating the old board members, saying in a statement that in its opinion "directors did not act in the best interests of the company".
Petropavlovsk saw the actions of rebel shareholders in June as an attempt to gain control over the company and asked British regulators to look into a possible breach of the takeover code.
"This is a disappointing result, but we remain unbowed," Prosperity Capital Management said in a statement after Monday's vote, adding that other minority shareholders also believed that "Petropavlovsk deserves a strong, independent Board."