Fiji based gold miner Vatukoula (LON:VGM) this afternoon announced the resignation of chief executive David Karl Paxton, who is stepping down immediately.
Kevin Zhu, the current mine manager of the Vatukoula mine, has been appointed chief operating officer and will take over Paxton's main responsibilities.
This COO role will remain a non-board position and chairman Ian He will assume the board responsibilities of the chief executive.
Paxton thanked shareholders for their continued support and said he looked forward to the company's transition to a low cost gold producer".
"It has been a great pleasure to serve as CEO of the company during the last six years and now that Vatukoula has finalised the outstanding US$20 million loan note agreement, the company is well placed to increase production to its long term targets."
He, non-exec chairman, said: "We would like to thank David for bringing Vatukoula to this point. We wish him well in his endeavors and look forward to VGM's continued progress."