Solid Gold looks for new CEO: junior miner replaces controversial figure.

• Position: MINING

Controversial junior mining boss Darryl Stretch has been replaced as CEO of Solid Gold Resources by its board of directors.

In a Dec. 3 press release, the company said Alan Myers, a director and chief financial officer, will serve as as interim CEO of Solid Gold "while the board works towards finding a permanent solution."

The company has been embroiled in a legal fight, led by Stretch, to resume exploration drilling on a Lake Abitibi gold property in northeastern Ontario.

Earlier this year, an Ontario Superior Court upheld an injunction by the nearby Wahgoshig First Nation to cease exploration, ruling that the company did not make an effort to consult with the community despite government requests to do so. Stretch was appealing the decision with the Divisional Court of Ontario scheduling a hearing for January.

At the time of Stretch's dismissal in early December, the company's share price on the TSX Venture Exchange was hovering at the 3.5 cent range.

The reason for the dismissal was not given in the press release and Myers was not immediately available for comment.

Solid Gold and the Ontario Prospectors Association took considerable heat from First Nation groups after a contentious presentation by Stretch in Sudbury last November, in which he classified First Nations as "hostile third-party governments." He attacked the Ontario government for failing in its duty to consult with First Nations and in passing that responsibility over to industry.

His remarks and presentation at the Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium featured a cartoon image of First Nation people. The presentation drew immediate flak from the Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Wahgoshig First Nation, who called on the province to withdraw its support and endorsement of "racist and radical" representatives of the industry.

Wahgoshig Chief Dave Babin said his First Nation could not work with Stretch to resolve their differences and was pleased to hear of his removal.

But Babin wants nothing to do with the current management of Solid Gold Resources because of the "tone" set in working with First Nations.

Babin said if Solid Gold came under new ownership, his community would be willing to meet.

"I don't want to work with Solid Gold. (It) still has its same associates and these guys were behind Stretch 100 per cent and showed no mercy. If there is a takeover, we will look it over with great caution."

Stretch made no apologies for his statements, nor his leadership of the...