The sorry saga of gold miner X64 has taken a new twist, with administrators called in
Troubled gold miner X64 has collapsed after apparently losing control of its Philippines gold mine.
Troubled gold miner X64 has collapsed after apparently losing control of its Philippines gold mine, with the company calling in voluntary administrators after months of bitter infighting over its leadership.
X64, formerly known as Medusa Mining, said it had called PwC administrators Martin Ford and Simon Theobald after its new board – installed after the June spill threat forced out executive chairman Jeffery McGlinn and the rest of its directors – said it had completed a “detailed financial analysis” of the company’s position.
The company said that analysis, along with a messy dispute in the Philippines over control of the locally registered company – Philsaga Mining Corporation (PMC) – that owns its Co-O mine in the country, suggested its Australian parent had “no guarantee of continued income from PMC to support its operations”.
X64 said the voluntary administration applied only to its ASX-listed parent company, and did not affect its operating subsidiaries in the Philippines.
X64 has been at the centre of a war for control of the company on multiple fronts for much of the past year, both in Australia and the Philippines. The bitter infighting kicked off after the company sacked former managing director Ryan Welker a year ago, with Mr Welker unsuccessfully returning to try to remove its board in September.
Infighting also spread to the company’s operating subsidiary in the Philippines earlier this year after Mr McGlinn suspended trading in the companies’ shares as it conducted a “comprehensive operational audit” at the Co-O gold mine following the sacking of long-term mine boss Raul Villanueva – one of a number of local shareholders that owned a stake in PMC.
X64 said in June it was still locked in legal battles over control of PMC, after Mr Villanueva contested ownership of the operating subsidiaries and effectively locked out the company’s replacement management, led by Philippines national Joseph Mahusa.
That release was made just ahead of the second board spill, with Mr McGlinn and his fellow directors resigning ahead of the June 20 meeting.
The company had about $80m in cash in its accounts at the end of December, according to X64’s last quarterly report – but it is not clear how much of that sat in bank accounts controlled by its Australian parent, with sources suggesting only a limited amount of cash was available to its local directors.
The war for control of Co-O is still raging in the Philippines, with local media reports indicating Mr Mahusa and Mr Villanueva are trading public and legal threats over control of the asset.
Both men are locked in a legal dispute over Mr Villanueva’s alleged sale of shares in PMC, and which man now holds the key shareholding in X64’s operating subsidiary.
In late June, shortly after the successful board spill at X64, Mr Villanueva – who appears to be in effective control of the gold mine – reportedly praised Mr Welker and the new X64 directors for seizing back control of the Australian company from the previous board. X64 shares last traded at 57c.