WA mining pioneer Mark Creasy has proposed a rescue bid for collapsed ASX-listed goldminer Calidus Resources ahead of a creditors' meeting next week.
Western Australian mining pioneer Mark Creasy has proposed a rescue bid for collapsed ASX-listed goldminer Calidus Resources ahead of a creditors' meeting next week.
The prospector, through his entity West Coast Gold (ultimately owned by Yandal Investments), put forward a deed of company arrangement for the WA gold play.
ASX-listed Calidus, which owns the Warrawoona goldmine near Marble Bar among other assets, tumbled into receivership and administration in late June.
At the time, the goldminer’s senior secured creditor, Macquire Bank, called in KordaMentha’s Richard Tucker and John Bumbak as receivers and managers.
FTI Consulting administrators Hayden White and Daniel Woodhouse were also voluntarily brought in by the Calidus board of directors.
Then, in July, Mr Creasy's entity struck a deal with Macquarie to acquire the almost $150 million owed through a loan and hedging facility, which potentially gave him an angle on the miner.
In a recent report prepared for creditors, FTI outlined the DOCA submitted by Mr Creasy, citing that it was in the best interest of creditors.
Another two DOCAs were put forward, one by Petra Capital and another by an unnamed party offering funding packages worth $170 million and $135 million, respectively.
In its report, FTI said the West Coast DOCA appeared to offer a return to priority employee creditors of 100 cents in the collar and a return to ordinary unsecured creditors of between 0.3 and 100 cents in the dollar.
The troubles at Calidus were partly attributed to cost inflation around energy and labour, alongside supply chain issues as a result of the pandemic.
Its main asset is the Warrawoona open pit goldmine, located 150 kilometres south-east of Port Hedland, which has been in production since 2022.
According to the report, residual stockpiles at Warrawoona would be exhausted by mid-December. After that point, active mining would need to recommence or the plant would need to be mothballed to preserve value.
Calidus also has a joint venture agreement with Chilean lithium major SQM to develop the Pirra lithium project.
Creditors are set to meet on September 27.
