Silvercorp Metals’ founder and chairman Dr Rui Feng is being re-appointed to the chief executive officer position. The Board of Directors welcomes Dr Feng’s return to the CEO position, a role he held from September 2003 until October 2013.

Under his leadership, Dr Feng transformed Silvercorp from a small Canadian junior exploration company to a successful, low-cost, mid-tier silver producer. Dr Feng, who has been located in Beijing since last July, has been working with colleagues and outside management consultants to streamline the company’s organization structures, improve management controls and systems, and enhance the operational efficiency to ensure the company’s continued profitability through the current low metal price environment and prepare for the next resource growth cycle.

With Dr Feng returning to the CEO position, Myles Gao will assume the position of president, corporate development, with a focus on identifying acquisitions and new business opportunities brought about by the current resource sector downturn.

The company is further strengthening its management team with the recruitment of Derek Liu, who will assume the role of interim chief financial officer effective February 2015. Derek Liu is a professional accountant with more than 15 years of diverse international experience in financial reporting, auditing, and accounting. He has held senior accounting positions, such as corporate controller and chief financial officer, at a number of public Canadian mining companies for the past several years including the role of financial controller of Silvercorp from 2006 to 2010.

Meanwhile, Silvercorp advises that the Safety Inspection Permit for its newest mine, the GC mine in Guangdong Province, was received on December 10, 2014. This was the final permit required by the GC mine, which commenced commercial production in the last fiscal quarter.