Federal Government and other creditors facing $300m wipeout on failed mineral sands projects
Iwatani, which already owns South West mineral sands miner Doral, is proposing to take control of the mothballed Coburn mine near Shark Bay from receivers with a $15m cash offer that would see secured creditors repaid less than 5¢ in every dollar they are owed.
The deed of company arrangement for Coburn, if approved by creditors next week, would crystallise a loss of about $160m for the project's biggest backer, the government-owned Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
A statutory report by administrators Cor Cordis into the collapse of Strandline and its operating subsidiary Coburn Resources reveals NAIF is owed $167m, having advanced a final $5m just three months before the miner collapsed in February.
With bondholders owed $94m and NAB nearly $17m, secured creditors alone are on the hook for Coburn for $277.5m.
Under the DOCA, they would likely collectively recover less than $10m, while 224 unsecured mainly trade creditors would share just $1.5m to settle another $49m of claims.
Subject to clarification about which company actually employed them, the deed funds would also be used to pay $5 million in outstanding entitlements owed to nearly 170 employees.
The ASX-listed Strandline was put into administration on February 21 after its backers ran out of patience with protracted efforts to address Coburn's poor operating performance and restructure the group's hefty debt.
Receivers from McGrathNicol took control of the mine under an almost simultaneous appointment by the secured creditors.
Strandline spent $260m developing Coburn to exploit a large tonnage, but low-grade deposit, about 300km north of Geraldton.
It entered commercial production in November 2022 but struggled from the start, falling well short of the targets assumed in the feasibility study that underpinned the development.
Directors sheeted home blame to various factors, including design and construction flaws, unreliable equipment, labour shortages, and higher-than-expected handling and operating costs.
However, administrators Thomas Birch and Jeremy Nipps added that Coburn never produced enough to do better than break even.
Strandline and Coburn, they said, 'were reliant on funding from lenders to bridge their collective working capital deficit in circumstances where operations were never generating sufficient cash or gross profit'.
Iwatani's was one of two proposals received by McGrathNicol after a sale campaign, with the receivers opting for the Japanese company, partly because its offer was better, it had more certainty and it 'would see the continuation of the Coburn project after a short period of care and maintenance'.
Iwatani could not be immediately contacted on Friday.
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The Advertiser
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- The Advertiser
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News.com.au
2 hours ago
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Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Asian stocks climb, dollar droops on Fed easing bets
Asian equities have risen, with Japanese shares hitting a record high, as tech-led gains on Wall Street, upbeat earnings and growing expectations for US rate cuts boosted sentiment. The prospect of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine also underpinned sentiment, benefiting the euro, while weighing on oil prices as traders gauged the outlook for sanctions on Moscow. Sterling held its ground at a one-week high going into the Bank of England's policy announcement later in the day, with a quarter-point cut widely expected, and the focus falling on a possible three-way split within the board. At the same time, markets largely shook off Trump's latest tariff threats, including an additional 25 per cent tariff on India over purchases of Russian oil and a threatened 100 per cent duty on chips. Japan's broad Topix index rose 0.9 per cent on Thursday to reach an all-time high, with the more tech-focused Nikkei also gaining by about the same margin. Taiwan's stock benchmark surged 2.3 per cent to a more than one-year peak. South Korea's KOSPI added 0.6 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4 per cent, and mainland Chinese blue chips advanced 0.3 per cent. Australian shares edged slightly lower after hitting a record high on Wednesday. US stock futures were buoyant, with those for the S&P 500 up 0.3 per cent and those for the Nasdaq also rising 0.3 per cent. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.7 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2 per cent. "Wall Street seems to have gotten its mojo back," analyst Kyle Rodda wrote in a note. "However, there are persistent risks to the downside. Downside surprises in official data are increasing," he said. "Valuations are also stretched, with forward price to earnings hovering around the highest in four years. And trade uncertainty persists." The US dollar remained lower against major peers on Thursday, with expectations of easier policy from the Federal Reserve stoked both by some disappointing macroeconomic indicators - not least Friday's payrolls report - and Trump's move to install new picks on the Fed board that are likely to share the US President's dovish views on monetary policy. Focus is centred on Trump's nomination to fill a coming vacancy on the Fed's board of governors and candidates for the next chair of the central bank, with current Chair Jerome Powell's tenure due to end in May. The dollar index, which gauges the currency against the euro, sterling and four other counterparts, gained slightly to 98.245, after dropping 0.6 per cent on Wednesday. The euro was little changed at $1.1657, following the previous session's 0.7 per cent jump. Sterling was steady at $1.3356. The BoE looks poised to cut interest rates for the fifth time in 12 months later on Thursday, but nagging worries about inflation are likely to split its policymakers and cloud the outlook for its next moves. Two Monetary Policy Committee members may push for a half-point rate cut, and two may lobby for no change. The dollar added 0.1 per cent to 147.53 yen. Gold gained 0.4 per cent to around $3,382 per ounce, buoyed by the weaker dollar. Crude oil clawed back some losses from Wednesday, when both Brent and West Texas Intermediate slid about 1 per cent. Brent crude futures were last up 20 cents, or 0.3 per cent, at $67.09 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 22 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $64.57 a barrel.
