Former SouthGobi Resources Ltd.
(1878.HK) Chief Executive Alexander Molyneux said Thursday his departure
overnight from the helm of the Mongolia-focused coal miner was the final part
of an expected succession plan that gained momentum once the company”s proposed
sale to Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (ACH) fell apart last week.

SouthGobi said in a statement
Wednesday that it had terminated Molyneux, who was also the company”s
president, effective Wednesday. It didn”t provide a reason. Molyneux”s
departure comes slightly more than a week after the collapse of a potential
$920 million deal to sell SouthGobi to Aluminum Corp. of China, the Chinese
mining major also known as Chalco.

Chalco had bid in April to purchase
a majority stake in Hong Kong-traded SouthGobi from Canada”s Ivanhoe Mines
Ltd., since renamed Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (TRQ.T). The end of the bid
accelerated a plan to fully replace SouthGobi”s board with directors backed by
Rio Tinto PLC (RIO), which took a 51% majority of Ivanhoe in January.

“I was just the last guy to
go,” Molyneux told Dow Jones Newswires.

Chalco had expressed a preference to
keep SouthGobi”s management in place until after the proposed sale was
finalized, Molyneux said. Chalco and Rio Tinto weren”t immediately available
for comment Thursday.

Molyneux said the investment climate
in Mongolia”s mining sector had become “very complex” after Ulan
Bator introduced a law earlier this year to restrict foreign ownership of key
resources.

Dow Jones Newswires