Petropavlovsk’s solid trading update yesterday suggested that the Russian goldminer was well on its way to hitting its 2017 production targets. Output for the first half was 232,400 ounces, up almost a fifth on the same period last year and more than halfway to the upper end of its full-year guidance. The company realised average gold prices of $1,252 an ounce in the first half, comfortably above its cost of production of $800 to $900 an ounce, and net debt was trimmed by 5 per cent.
So far, so good, but all this positive news was largely overshadowed by the departure on Monday of Pavel Maslovskiy, its chief executive. Mr Maslovskiy had run Petropavlovsk jointly with Peter Hambro for most of the past two