Metallica Minerals shareholders call for the board to be sacked

IT really is the season of the shareholder revolt. The latest investors to arc up are minority shareholders of Brisbane-based Metallica Minerals who are calling for the board to be sacked.

Illustration of Simon Slesarewich by Brett Lethbridge.

IT really is the season of the shareholder revolt. The latest investors to arc up are minority shareholders of Brisbane-based Metallica Minerals who are calling for the entire board to be sacked and a new one appointed. Metallica is a minnow in the great scheme of things, but besides being the namesake of a famous American rock band, it does have plans for a bauxite mine in the mineral-rich Weipa region.

The dissident investors, who include Paul Dostal and Graham Dow, have a long list of complaints, the main one being Metallica’s a proposed merger with a company called Melior Resources, which plans to mine ilmenite at Goondicum, west of Bundaberg. Ilmenite is an ore used in the production of titanium oxide.

Dostal and Dow claim in a letter to shareholders that the merger is a poor deal and the Goondicum project is a high risk one that has previously failed. Other complaints include delays in the Urqhuart bauxite project and the sale of a lucrative cobalt/nickel project.

They say that managing director Simon Slesarewich’s $614,565 salary package, which includes cash and performance incentives, is clearly unsustainable. Dostal and the other dissenters hold over 5 per cent of Metallica meaning that under the Corporations Act they can call a special meeting to put the sacking proposal to the rest of the shareholders.

Slesarewich says the dissidents represent a minority group – only three of more than 2,000 shareholders – that are seeking to prevent the majority from exercising their right to vote on the Melior merger. “We advise shareholders to treat any communication they receive from this group with caution,” he says. “Their aim is to take control of Metallica without paying an appropriate premium.”

Interesting times ahead. Fans of Metallica - the rock band that is - will know that one of their biggest hits was called For Whom the Bell Tolls.

BRIDGE TOO FAR

BRIBIE Island has always been a popular spot for retirees. So imagine the consternation when our own homegrown bank Suncorp closed its branch on the island last year. A City Beat spy tells us that long-suffering elderly customers now have to trek to Caboolture, a good 30 minute drive, to access the nearest full Suncorp branch.

The spy says Suncorp also have recently closed a branch at Sandgate, another popular retirement spot for elderly people. “These banks want everyone to go onto the internet, but not all elderly people are able to,” says our spy. Suncorp is not the only big bank closing branches around the country, but we would expect better from a Queensland-based company that can trace its roots back to the SGIO and Metropolitan Building Society.

In its defence, Suncorp says Bribie Island customers can still make withdrawals and deposits to their Suncorp account at Australia Post outlets. In the coming months, Suncorp says it will be running workshops with customers based at Bribie Island to further assist them with alternative banking options. All fine words, but it’s a bit tough to expect someone in their 80s to suddenly become digital savvy.

STAR POWER

CONGRATULATIONS to Brisbane film and television industry leader Tim McGahan who won the Lord Mayor’s Business Person of the Year last night. Presenting the award, Lord Mayor Graham “Quirky” Quirk said the managing director of Blacklab Group had spent more than two decades building a brand that is internationally recognised for producing feature films, television series, commercials and digital content. Lightweave founder Sam Hussey was named young business person of the year for his work in virtual reality development while the Trevor St Baker-backed electric car recharging firm Tritium won the platinum award.

SUPER CHARGED

The team at Brisbane-based Battery World may not have won a gong at the Franchise Council of Australia annual awards but they were not down for long picking up two awards at the prestigious 2018 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards in Melbourne on Thursday. Battery World won 2018 Pronto Retail Innovator of the Year and 2018 eftpos Franchise Chain of the Year. General Manager Rowan Hodge attended the event where Battery World was recognised for good work in an increasingly tough retail environment.