After dismissing its CEO Tye Burt, Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:T.K, Stock Forum) is waiting for the other shoe to drop, says Canaccord Wealth Management in its Morning Coffee newsletter.
In a conference call with analysts on Thursday, Kinross officials are expected t provide a Red Back Mining update that will outline the optimum processing approach for the wholly-owned Tasiast mine, located 300 kilometers north of Nouakchott in Mauritania, West Africa. The mine has 7.4 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves, according to company data.
The company released its second quarter results on Wednesday.
Last week, the company dismissed Burt and appointed Paul Rollinson, formerly Kinross' EVP Corporate Development, as its new CEO.
Rollinson also replaced Burt on the Kinross Board of Directors. Some shareholders had demanded a management change citing Kinross' extreme share price underperformance since announcing the acquisition of Red Back Mining two years ago.
The Board stated that the primary reason for dismissing Burt was that "shareholders would be best served by an executive team focused on implementation and oversight of the comprehensive capital and project optimization process that was announced on January 16, 2012."
Prior to Kinross, Rollinson had a long career in investment banking, including Deputy Head of Investment Banking at Scotia Capital (BNS) and senior roles at Deutsche Bank AG and BMO Nesbitt Burns (BMO).
Some believe Rollinson has been given the top job to oversee an asset rationalization and restructuring process for Kinross which may include a divestment of Red Back Mining.
On Wednesday, Kinross was trading at $7.89 a share. The company has a market cap of $9 billion, based on 1.1 billion shares outstanding. The 52-week high and low was $18.17 and $7.15 respectively.