Vault Minerals shareholders have panned bonuses handed to the gold miner’s departing chief Luke Tonkin and a $517,768 golden handshake for another executive.
About 52 per cent of investor votes were cast against the adoption of Vault’s remuneration report at its annual general meeting on Friday, well above the 25 per cent threshold required for a first strike under the Corporations Act.
Influential proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended its clients vote against the remuneration report.
ISS took aim at Mr Tonkin receiving 5.1 million long-term performance rights — worth more than $1.7 million when granted last year — which would vest into shares as long as the chief executive remains in the job until 1 February 2026.
Mr Tonkin in August flagged he would step down as CEO “within the next 12 months”, but no departure date has been set, meaning his performance rights look likely to fully vest.
“Full vesting of award upon cessation of employment is considered problematic and materially inconsistent with local market standards which support forfeiture of any unvested awards or at least pro-rata vesting based on performance and the portion of the vesting period up to the time of cessation,” ISS stated.
The proxy firm noted Mr Tonkin’s 2025 total remuneration of $3.4m was above the peer company median for a CEO of $2.5m.
ISS also raised “concerns” that Richard Hay received a termination payout surpassing half a million dollars after he finished up as chief operating officer on November 26 last year.
“His (Mr Hay’s) termination benefits of $517,768 include cash in lieu of both contractual notice period and retention rights to which he was contractually entitled but not issued prior to cessation of employment,” ISS stated.
“While the overall amount is not considered excessive, shareholders may raise concerns that his termination benefits include his retention rights, which appear to have been paid in full.
“It is noted that the retention award was granted on 22 November 2024, a few days before he ceased to be a key management person.”
Mr Hay was one of four executives given a “one-off retention incentive” worth at least $183,000 when Red 5 and Silver Lake Resources merged in June last year to create Vault.
Shares in Vault have risen about 128 per cent in 2025 amid the well-publicised gold price boom. The company’s market capitalisation surpassed $5 billion last month.
If Vault receives another strike against its remuneration report next year then shareholders are required to immediately vote on whether to hold a meeting to spill the board.
Shareholders rarely vote in favour of a spill meeting even when companies rack up multiple, consecutive pay strikes.
https://thewest.com.au/business/mining/vault-minerals-hit-with-remuneration-report-first-strike-for-payouts-to-luke-tonkin-and-richard-hay-c-20702736
