Financier Nat Rothschild has been defeated in his bid to replace the board of Bumi, the Indonesian mining company he helped to create that has come to symbolise the perils of investing in natural resource stocks with assets in emerging markets.

However, after the extraordinary meeting in London on Thursday the miner announced that Samin Tan, who Mr Rothschild had sought to oust as chairman, would step down and that a search to replace the Indonesian tycoon was already underway.

Shareholders rejected 19 of Mr Rothschild’s 22 resolutions, including one that would have seen him return to the board. Accompanied to the meeting by his mother, Lady Serena Rothschild, he claimed some success after a “substantial majority” of independent shareholders voted for his proposals.