TORONTO - Guyana Goldfields Inc. shareholders are pushing for changes at the top after what they say is a disappointing run for the company's performance and stock price.

The investors say they have made an official request for a shareholder meeting to potentially replace the board with six independent directors as well as establish an ethics committee and launch a strategic review of the company.

The move is the latest by shareholders in the mining industry to shake-up leadership on disappointing performance, including a successful push by hedge fund manager John Paulson to flip the board at Detour Gold Corp. and early efforts by investors in December to change management at Hudbay Minerals Inc.

Guyana Goldfields said its board remains committed to constructive dialogue with shareholders and will respond to the request in due course.

The dissident shareholders, including former executive chairman and founder Patrick Sheridan, Northfield Capital Corp., Robert Cudney, Donald Ross, and Gretchen Ross, together own about 5.4 per cent of the outstanding shares.

The investors say the current board has governed over a steep decline in the share price, which has dropped from around $5 in June on the Toronto Stock Exchange to $1.69 on Thursday. It briefly peaked at $10.11 in mid-2016.

They have also expressed dissatisfaction with management of the company's gold mine in Guyana, including permitting and personnel issues.

"The current board has made a series of seemingly irresponsible and misleading statements and generally questionable decisions that have put Guyana Goldfields' share price into a freefall," Sheridan said in a statement.

The company said in a separate release Thursday that it had appointed Perry Holloway, a former U.S. ambassador to Guyana, as senior vice-president of strategy and corporate affairs to bring added expertise in operating in the country.

"We are very pleased that Perry will be joining our team," company CEO Scott Caldwell said in a statement.

"He brings to the table an intimate working knowledge of Guyana, the government and its people from his time as the U.S. ambassador."

Companies in this story: (TSX:GUY)

News from © The Canadian Press, 2019