Hudbay Minerals investor looks to oust majority of board

A Hudbay Minerals Inc. investor has released a proposed slate of candidates as it looks to oust the current board of directors in a proxy fight.

Waterton Global Resource Management, Inc., which holds about 11.9 per cent of Hudbay shares, says changes to the board and chief executive are needed to address the company’s underperformance.

The investment fund says it wants to replace eight of the 10 current directors with its slate led by Peter Kukielski, who was CEO of Nevsun Resources before the company was bought late last year.

Hudbay Minerals spokesman Scott Brubacher says the company is open to constructive dialogue, but is concerned that Waterton, which competes with Hudbay for assets as a mining private equity firm, may not have the same interests as other shareholders.

He says Hudbay’s board is well qualified and has been continually strengthened through a continuing board renewal process.

Activist investors in the mining sector were given cause for optimism after hedge fund Paulson & Co. successfully led an overthrow of Detour Gold Corp.’s board of directors in December.