Aurora Metals’ bumpy road to administration

There were early warnings that a far north Queensland mining operation which has entered into voluntary administration was in trouble. KordaMentha has been appointed administrators of Aurora Metals which owns the Mungana processing plant and mine among other assets. The company, then operating as Consolidated Tin, came back onto the ASX in May 2019 after being suspended from official quotation in June 2016. Main photo: Mungana operations west of Cairns At the time they had secured loan facilities totalling $40 million through property firm Cyan Stone and two private equity placements that raised almost $24 million. Aurora Metals stood down much of its workforce in March 2020 and placed the Mount Garnet and Surveyor operations into care and maintenance quoting COVD concerns. Employees chasing unpaid super were directed to the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman in April 2020. Related: Consolidated Tin Mines back on the bourse In the latest development, almost 200 mine workers are out of a job following the Aurora Metals’ failure to sell the operation which was put on the market last November. A KordaMentha spokesperson said 150 employees lost their jobs in May when the operation was placed in care and maintenance. There were a further 45 employees, with 10 on site. Consolidated Tin bought the Mungana processing plant and mine and the King Vol polymetallic mine from Auctus in early 2021. It changed its name to Aurora Metals as part of the acquisition. Managing Director of Aurora Metals Ralph Delacy, was Chairman of Consolidated Tin at the time. Managing Director Aurora Metals Ralph De Lacey In an email to employees dated 10 April 2020, Mr De Lacey admitted a series of wages shortfalls started before the current pandemic yet continued to level the blame at COVID-19. In another email on 9 April, Mr De Lacey said , ‘the company would not be able to pay the other 52 percent of your last fortnightly salary today as promised.’ Related: Consolidated Tin employees left out of pocket Aurora Metals went on the market in November last year and in mid-January, the company announced its move to sell the company had been put on hold. Spokesman Richard Tucker along with David Osborne and Tony Miskiewicz also of KordaMentha Restructuring were appointed Voluntary Administrators of Aurora Metals Limited and eleven other entities within the Aurora Metals Group. The Aurora Metals Group holds a portfolio of zinc and copper projects and associated infrastructure in the Chillagoe and Mt Garnet regions of northern Queensland, west of Cairns. Kordamentha said the action followed a c. 40% decline in the Zinc price in the past 10 months. The projects have been placed on care and maintenance and will remain so while the Voluntary Administrators assess the position of the Aurora Metals Group and the best way forward to maximise value for all stakeholders in conjunction with commencement of a sale process for the various assets, Kordametha said. “The Aurora Metals Group will undoubtably attract interest given its portfolio of assets and the current environment where battery metals are in strong demand,” Mr Tucker said. “The Group has four underground mines including King Vol and Mungana, a 500,000tpa processing plant at Mt Garnet and a 600,000tpa processing plant at Chillagoe all on care and maintenance, together with various other prospects in development,” he said.

Aurora Metals’ bumpy road to administration

Industry Queensland

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