Forbes announced on Tuesday that Bennett had stepped down and would be replaced by his Resource Capital Funds (RCF) colleague Thomas Quinn Roussel.

Bennett, a senior partner of RCF, has sat on the board as a representative of RCF, FMC's largest shareholder.

Roussel is a principal of RCF and also currently serves on the board of an Australian resource company, Finders Resources.

"On behalf of Forbes Coal and all its shareholders, the board wishes to thank Mr Bennett for his service to the company and its shareholders," president and chief executive officer of FMC Stephan Theron said.

"Quinn's experience in the resource sector as an engineer in the coal space and most recently in the finance side of the business provides valuable perspective to our board. We look forward to working with him."

Forbes holds a majority interest in two operating underground mines in South Africa, both with a substantial resource base and a projected life span in excess of 20 years.

The Magdalena bituminous coal project has a 51.7 million tonne mineable in situ coal resource consisting of 51.3Mt measured and 0.4Mt indicated.

The Aviemore anthracite coal project has a resource of 35.7Mt, with 1.6Mt measured and 34.1Mt indicated.