The chief executive of Scotgold Resources, Phil Day, has resigned, citing a desire to spend more time with his family in Australia.
The process of recruiting a permanent successor will begin immediately, while he remains in post at this time.
Chair Peter Hetherington said: “On behalf of Scotgold’s board of directors, I thank Phil for his dedication, unwavering support and very significant contribution to the company.
“Under his calm and steady leadership, since April 2021, Phil has guided the Cononish mine to safe and environmentally compliant commercial production, redesigned the mine schedule, implemented cut and fill stoping for faster access to higher grade zones, commenced long hole stope mining and ramped up the process plant for optimal continuous operation.
“Significant challenges obviously remain for Scotgold,“ Hetherington continued. “We as a board have a duty of care to all team members and respect Phil’s request for the time and space, away from CEO PLC duties, with his family in Australia.
“We remain committed to all stakeholders and the ongoing development and production from Cononish, Scotland’s first commercial gold mine and will update the market in due course on the new CEO appointment.”
Day added: “I am very pleased with what we as a team have accomplished during my time as CEO.
“It has been a privilege to lead and develop the business - this team and board are its greatest asset and I want to express my gratitude for their contribution.”
As announced on 15 May, Scotgold commenced long hole stoping, along the 115m strike length in the underground mine at Cononish.
This was safely completed on time and drilling of the second block has now commenced, with blasting targeted for around a week’s time.
Better air ventilation has been completed, in parallel waste ramp development, allowing mining on the 445 East level ore body to commence. This ore is currently being fed to the process plant and was described as “good gold grade ore“, in line with expectations.
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