Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.
Controversial junior mining boss Darryl Stretch has been replaced as CEO of Solid Gold Resources by its board of directors.
In a Dec. 3 press release, the company said Alan Myers, a director and chief financial officer, will serve as as interim CEO of Solid Gold “while the board works towards finding a permanent solution.”
The company has been embroiled in a legal fight led by Stretch to resume exploration drilling on a Lake Abitibi gold property in northeastern Ontario.
Earlier this year, an Ontario Superior Court upheld an injunction by the nearby Wahgoshig First Nation to cease exploration, ruling that the company did not make an effort to consult with the community despite government requests to do so. Stretch was appealing the court decision and the Divisional Court of Ontario was to hear the appeal in January.
Solid Gold and the Ontario Prospectors Association took considerable heat from First Nation groups after a contentious presentation by Stretch in Sudbury last month in which he classified First Nations as “hostile third-party governments.” He attacked the Ontario government for failing in its duty to consult with First Nations instead of passing the responsibility over to industry.
His remarks and power point presentation at the Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium featured a cartoon image of First Nation people. The presentation drew immediate flak from the Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Wahgoshig First Nation who called on the province to withdraw its support and endorsement of “racist and radical” representatives of the industry.
In a recent interview, Wahgoshig Chief Dave Babin said his First Nation would not work with Stretch to resolve their differences.
Babin said if Solid Gold came under new ownership, his community would be willing to meet.
“I am open to anything but not to a person like that.”
Business of Solid Gold Resources Corp.
Solid Gold is a junior mining exploration and development company, which controls a +/-200-square-kilometer prospect hosting potential for discovery of economic mineralization at Lake Abitibi near the Porcupine Fault zone in Northern Ontario.