Newcrest Mining Limited
(ASX:NCM) Chairman Don Mercer has been urged to resign by the Australian Shareholders Association.
The ASA, which represents retail investors, is preparing to call for Mr Mercer to stand down before Newcrest's October annual meeting, according to media reports.
Shareholders have been disappointed by the miner's performance since the $10 billion Lihir Gold takeover and more recently, the handling of the gold miner’s market update.
Newcrest has been under increasing scrutiny since a number of brokers downgraded the stock ahead of its announcement of $6 billion worth of writedowns.
The downgrades and Newcrest's share drop ahead of the announcement lead to an investigation into whether the miner selectively briefed analysts ahead of the disclosure.
Newcrest generated a net profit of $339 million in the first half of the current financial year.
