Ex-GWR chief joins failed predator

The hot and cold relationship between Osborne Park-based explorers Fairstar Resources and Golden West Resources is back in the spotlight, with the surprise appointment of former GWR executive chairman Con Markopoulos to the Fairstar board.

Fairstar, which made a disastrous hostile bid for its bigger neighbour in 2007, announced Mr Markopoulos had been appointed a non-executive director after the market closed for the Easter break late on Thursday.

The appointment comes nine months after Mr Markopoulos resigned from GWR following a board restructure and the company's decision to spin-off its gold and uranium assets to focus on its flagship Wiluna iron ore project.

Mr Markopoulos had become chairman in unusual circumstances in February 2008, when most of the GWR board quit ahead of a planned shareholder vote to remove him and two of his then co-directors, Alan Rudd and Michael Wilson.

The trio had split with the rest of the board over the appointment of then-chairman Geoff Wedlock without their approval. But the vote was cancelled when Mr Wedlock, managing director Gary Hutchinson and executive director Peter Thompson resigned en-masse.

Fairstar eventually emerged with a 16.3 per cent interest in GWR, mostly reflecting acceptances by shareholders who were also investors in Fairstar.

Lacking any support from non-aligned GWR shareholders, Fairstar last year flagged it was seeking a buyer for the stake in order to focus on its own iron ore project at Steeple Hill, east of Kalgoorlie.

Mr Markopoulos maintained the original GWR board's opposition to the Fairstar offer, but his latest appointment is likely to reignite speculation about Fairstar's intentions for its GWR stake.