VANCOUVER -- Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD.TO) is hiring one of Goldcorp's top executives to succeed Paul Wright, who is preparing to retire as president and CEO of the Vancouver-based mining company next year.

Wright's replacement will be George Burns, who has been chief operating officer of Goldcorp Inc. (G.TO) — another Vancouver-based company and one of the world's largest gold producers.

In turn, Goldcorp has named one of its senior vice-presidents as its new chief operating officer — a position that's often considered a company's second-highest management position after CEO.

Wright joined Eldorado in 1996 and held several management positions prior to becoming its president and CEO in 1999. He is planning to hand off the management roles after Eldorado's annual meeting in April but remain as a director.

Burns will also become a director on Eldorado's board.

Goldcorp's new chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1, will be Todd White — the company's senior vice-president for technical services.