Bates has served as president, CEO and director of the coal company since its foundation.

Cline has appointed V. James Sardo as a director of the company.

Sardo is a corporate director with significant chief executive and corporate governance experience.

He is a director and chairman of the board of Capstone Infrastructure Corporation, a director of New Flyer Industries and a director of Currency Exchange International Corporation.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Business Administration degree at McMaster University.

Sardo is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds the ICD.D designation.

Executive chairman Mark Haywood said: “We wish to thank and express our gratitude to Ken for his dedicated service and numerous contributions made to the company under often challenging conditions. We wish him well in his future endeavours.”

Cline appointed Mark Haywood as executive chairman of the board last week following the resignation of Bill McKnight.

Industry veteran Haywood joined Cline’s board on February 11.

McKnight, who has served as a director since December 2004 and chairman of the board since January 2005, stepped down as of May 18.

He will continue to serve as a director.

Additionally, Peter Elzinga has also resigned from the Cline board.

Elzinga had served as a director since June 2010.

Cline Mining holds significant metallurgical coal property interests in British Columbia as well as at the New Elk complex in Colorado.

New Elk’s inferred coal resources total is 104.5 million tons. It comprises the Green, Loco, Blue, Bing Canyon Upper, Red, Maxwell, Apache and Allen coal seams in a total plan area of 34,060 acres.