Neville McAlary will take over as CEO in April 2016.

Bizzaca will continue as managing director for an interim period and afterwards will remain as a Director and assist McAlary as required on special tasks, chairman Gordon Galt said.

“We look forward to Neville joining the Delta team,” he said. “He has the experience and the drive needed to make sure that Delta will progress strongly into the future.

“The Board thanks and is most grateful to Mr Bizzaca for his leadership and dedication to the company over many years, through both good and difficult times. We are very pleased that Mr Bizzaca will remain with us as a Director and major shareholder of the company for the long term.”

Galt said McAlary joins Delta with extensive experience in underground coal operations and business management. In his 35 years in the mining industry, McAlary has held a number of senior and executive positions with Glencore (Xstrata Coal) and Peabody in Australia.

His experience includes operational management of an Australian mining contracting company in the 1990s and work with a number of international mining groups across the United States and South Africa.

McAlary has demonstrated a core focus on safety and has implemented significant safety improvement programs aimed at improving workforce education and awareness, according to the company.

He is a mining engineer and holds a 1st Class Mine Manager’s certificate.