Sgq "I was just the last guy to go," Mr. Molyneux said in a telephone interview with Dow Jones Newswires.
Chalco wanted to keep SouthGobi's management in place until after the sale was finalized, Mr. Molyneux said.
"I would have been happy to stay on, but Rio Tinto is the owner of the business now, and they have a different way to manage a business. They replaced directors at Ivanhoe, they replaced directors at other Rio Tinto businesses; so this is natural," he said.
Ross Tromans, most recently marketing general manager at Rio Tinto Coal Australia, has been nominated president and chief executive, subject to confirmation at the next meeting of SouthGobi's board, SouthGobi said in its statement.