Copper Mountain did not provide a reason for Shier's termination, which is effective immediately.
He has been replaced on an interim basis by the company's vice president for finance, Bradley Bolger.
Canada's System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders, or SEDI, shows that Shier sold 840,000 shares in Copper Mountain between 11 November 2021 and 26 March 2022. They were disclosed 22 August.
National Bank of Canada Financial Markets noted that the sales represented around 54% of his holdings.
"Throughout that period, the company reported two of its more operationally challenging quarters following damage to the secondary crusher in Q4/21 that impacted throughput earlier this year as well as mining lower-grade, oxidized ore from the North pit in Q2/22 that resulted in lower-than-expected production and reduction in annual guidance," NBF said.
Copper Mountain's flagship asset is its 75%-owned namesake mine located in southern British Columbia, Canada.
Between 11 November 2021 and 26 March 2022, Copper Mountain's share price traded between C$3 (US$2.32) and C$4.25. The stock has shed value since mid-April and hit around 20-month lows by mid-year. On 24 August, the stock closed the session at C$1.59.
NBF has a share price target for Copper Mountain of C$2.25.
"As we've previously highlighted, we expect production to turn the corner in H2/22 with updated Copper Mountain reserve and resource and a revised life of mine plan highlighting a potential expansion scenario as high as 65,000-100,000 tonnes per day to provide a significant catalyst in Q3/22," NBF said.
It noted that it models a staged expansion to 100,000tpd throughput by the second half of 2026 at a total cost of C$700 million.
Copper Mountain also 100% owns the development-stage Eva copper project in Queensland, Australia.
"Given labour availability issues throughout Australia and inflationary pressures impacting Greenfield development projects, we continue to anticipate a decision to defer development of Eva by year-end while potential monetization of the asset would aid in deleveraging and funding of other expansion initiatives," NBF said.
