Former Sundance Resources chairman George Jones will begin building a new junior's board after the mining company's executive team was killed in a plane crash in Western Africa.

Appointed as a strategic adviser to help the iron ore junior through the crisis, Mr Jones would be calling a shareholders meeting soon. The company is also seeking some clearances and guidance from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

"This is unprecedented, what has happened, and it is not in the law books as to what happens now," Mr Jones said.

"The advisers in effect act as defacto directors and will be calling a shareholder meeting. We will get in front of shareholders as soon as possible and work on further appointments to build the board back to the standard that is required to deliver on a project of this type."

"I built that team up at Sundance to what was there, and while I don't want to do it, if necessary, I can do it again."

Among influential figures killed in the accident were billionaire Ken Talbot, chief executive Don Lewis, company secretary John Carr-Gregg, and directors Geoff Wedlock, John Jones and Craig Oliver. The management team was to visit the company's Mbalam iron ore project situated in the Republic of Cameroon in central West Africa.

According to the company, the crash site had been secured, with two Sundance contractors and a representative of the French military remaining with the bodies overnight (local time) to await the start of the retrieving mission.

Mr Jones is hoping to speed up the recovery process, which authorities said would be painstaking.

"There is a normal protocol in these African countries where they like to conduct autopsies on the bodies and various investigations and processes that can take a long time," the former Sundance Resources chairman said.

"Our key priority is to get these people back to Australia and repatriate them back to their families, so they can have closure."

Tributes for the victims poured in Tuesday, as the mining industry continues to grieve.