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Detour Gold Corp.’s chief executive and founder Gerald Panneton has resigned, the Canadian company said in a surprise announcement that sent its stock tumbling and fuelled speculation that the miner would soon take steps to bolster its financial position.
Shares of Detour Gold dropped 30 per cent to $2.97 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, a level not seen since the rocky days of the financial crisis and lower than the $3.50 share price the company set when it went public in 2007.
The company’s chief financial officer, Paul Martin, will serve as interim CEO and Detour Gold’s vice president of finance, James Mavor, will serve as interim CFO, as the miner searches for a new chief executive.
The abrupt departure of Mr. Panneton, a geologist with decades of experience in the mining industry, comes one day after he had a discussion with Detour Gold’s board of directors that resulted in him tendering his resignation, according to the company.
Mr. Martin would not provide further detail but said: “It would be fair to say that none of us are satisfied with the share performance. What we need to do is to deliver on our operating parameters to improve that situation.”
Detour Gold started producing gold from its only mine in Northern Ontario earlier this year and has been under pressure to improve its balance sheet with the price of gold trading dangerously close to what it cost the company to produce an ounce of the precious metal.
For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, the company produced 75,672 ounces of gold and said it cost on average $1,214 (U.S.) to produce one ounce. On Monday, the price of gold hovered around $1,227 an ounce.
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