Singh, the nominee of white knight investor Jindal Steel which saved the near-bankrupt coal company in 2013, was on a salary package of $A700,000 per annum salary and received statutory superannuation, a motor vehicle and accommodation.

His resignation was effective on May 8 but he remains chairman (non-executive) of the board.

While the hunt for a new CEO is underway, Stone’s resignation was announced yesterday.

It’s unclear when Stone tendered his resignation and when he might leave. Wollongong said Stone would continue his role as COO “as an interim measure while the procurement process for a replacement COO is undertaken”

Stone flagged that job losses at the Russell Vale longwall mine were on the cards ahead of the company’s Easter break.

However, the mine restarted longwall operations last week without any job cutting announcements as Wollongong said it had advanced talks to land nearly $790 million of bank finance.

Wollongong is working on a response to a Planning Assessment Commission review of its Russell Vale expansion project which is targeting eight additional longwall panels plus an increased rate of 4.7 million tonnes per annum run of mine over a five-year mine life.

According to Bloomberg data, Jindal has an 82.04% stake of Wollongong while key bank lender ICICI has a 10.16% stake.