LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Nick Mather, the chief executive officer of copper and gold miner SolGold, will retire at the end of March after 13 years at the helm, the company said in a statement. While Solgold starts the hunt for a new CEO, its non-executive director Keith Marshall will step in as an interim chief, it added. Reuters on Friday reported that the company had launched a process to replace Mather after nearly half of shareholders, including BHP, and Newcrest, opposed his reappointment to the board following a dispute over funding for the miner’s mammoth Ecuador copper-gold project. The London-listed company is seeking to mend fences with major shareholders, as it needs to secure more than $2.5 billion for the project, expected to start production of copper and gold in 2025. Copper is in high demand for use in renewable energy and electric vehicles and new deposits are rare and increasingly difficult to recover. Gold prices are hovering around record highs. Mather intends to remain on the board as non-executive director, it said. “Nick Mather has made an incredible contribution to the success and growth of SolGold, having taken the company from a market capitalisation of $40 million in 2006 to over $1 billion,” said Liam Twigger, chairman of Solgold. “The strategy of regional exploration designed by Nick and his exploration team will continue to be pursued and has the potential to deliver a string of major projects for SolGold, its shareholders and Ecuador,” he added. SolGold shares were up around 3% giving the company a market capitalisation of about 709 million British pounds ($965 million).