PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The board of junior Finders Resources has rejected an overture by shareholder Taurus Funds Management to remove all independent directors and one executive director.

Earlier this month, Taurus called for an extraordinary general meeting to consider the removal of three of the seven Finders directors, as well as the appointment of Taurus representative Gordon Galt to the board.

The majority of the Finders board members have advised shareholders to reject the proposal, saying the appointment of a new board would effectively transfer control of the board to its two major shareholders.

“As such, we consider this a serious threat to Finders’ minority shareholders and the value we expect to be generated by the imminent development of the Wetar project,” the company said in a statement.

Finders interim chairperson Dr Russell Fountain said the independent directors’ sole objective was to defend and maximise shareholder value.

“We have successfully secured land title, strong local community support and mining approvals for the valuable Wetar project and have funds in hand to initiate development. This current board is best placed to advance the Wetar project and assess the comparative value of any takeover offer that might be received,” he said.

In July, Finders fought off a change of control after Galt insisted on a board seat and board restructure, which Finders said would have placed control of the board in the hands of the two major shareholders. The application was declined on the basis of a potential conflict of interest and the lack of Indonesian operating experience of the key technical nominees.

The board, at the time, expressed concern over Taurus’ position as the largest shareholder of Intrepid Mines, which was seeking access to Finders’ data room after expressing an intention to search for a new development project.

Meanwhile, the Finders board on Thursday appointed Fountain as interim chairperson to replace Gary Comb, who has thrown his lot in with Taurus.

Gavin Caudle was also appointed as a director and is a representative of Finders’ other major shareholder Provident. Executive directors Rob Thompson and James Wentworth have also stepped down as directors.