London’s Acheron Capital proposes to save Ballarat’s last gold mine
After six months in administration, there might finally be some movement at Balmaine Gold, the local subsidiary of Singapore-listed Shen Yao. The company’s main asset, a gold mine in Ballarat, has attracted at least one bid – London’s Acheron Capital wants to buy it for $42 million.
Balmaine Gold fell into administration in March, putting into serious question the future of Ballarat’s last remaining gold mine. The company had failed to secure enough storage for waste, known as tailings, making the economics of the already-marginal operation more difficult, The Australian Financial Review reported at the time of the collapse.
Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. The town has had a long association with gold.
The administrators of Balmaine Gold, Hall Chadwick, placed the mine on the market in July. Expressions of interest were due last week, and Shen Yao told shareholders in Singapore that more than 25 had been received.
“While the sales process continues, production of gold has been ongoing,” the company said in a brief note to the Singapore Exchange last month. “The administrators continued to review and improve the mining operations together with external mining consultants.”
Among lenders to Shen Yao and Balmaine Gold are Gemi Investments, a Sydney firm founded by George Fleming, along with Hugh Morgan’s Arete Capital and Acheron Capital. Both of the latter two firms had issued debt default notices to Balmaine Gold earlier this year, most of which had been disputed by the company, the Financial Review has reported.
In Singapore, Shen Yao’s ability to continue as a going concern has been in doubt since November 2021 when its auditor EY refused to rubber stamp its accounts because it could not reconcile some accounting matters.
Read more on afr.com
