Kingsrose has appointed Michael Ryan and Ian Francis of FTI Consulting voluntary administrators, "as part of the continued efforts to restructure the company, its financial arrangements and operations at the Way Linggo project in Indonesia".
The Talang Santo mine at Way Linggo has been now been shut.
The writing was on the wall in the company's last quarterly report (released to the market at the end of October), with the company saying "production continues to be impacted by the ongoing challenges presented by water and a reduction in mineable areas".
Still, only last month Kingsrose appointed a new CEO (mining engineer Michael Moore), and said it had successfully renegotiated the terms of its secured debt facilities with lenders.
"Under the agreements, Kingsrose's scheduled loan repayments have been deferred until July next year with the exception of one instalment to Great Golden Investment Limited and Beaurama Pty Ltd upon the earlier of either the receipt of an outstanding Indonesian tax refund or 31 March 2017," Kingsrose said in late November.
Kingsrose's secured lenders Mike Andrews, Great Golden Investment and Beaurama were owed a total of $A9.2 million.
Andrews was formerly on the board of Kingsrose and was a founding director, as was Kalgoorlie miner Bill Phillips who controls Great Golden and Beaurama.
It was Phillips who brought Kingsrose to Indonesia from its original venture at the Sand Queen mine north of Kalgoorlie.
That came about because Phillips, who was a long-time Medusa Mining overseer at its Co-O operation in the Philippines, was also involved at the time of Kingrose's listing with the Way Linggo development when owed by PT Natarang Mining.
As was Andrews and long-standing Kingsrose chairman John Morris, with the threes' Icon Enterprises selling the mine to Kingsrose in April 2008 - six months after the IPO - for equity valued at $11.5 million cash of $4 million - the latter to repay loans.
At that time the project was expected to require a further $8 million or so to bring into production.
Way Lingo did well in 2011/12 and the company announced a maiden dividend in May 2012 after producing 34,699 gold equivalent ounces at cash costs of $US248/oz in the nine months to March 2012.
However soon after the mine started having issues, and Talang Santo subsequently became the focus for Kingsrose as it began production in 2014.
Kingsrose had total outstanding loans of $A10 million at the start of 2016.
It raised $9 million in August in a placement that priced shares at 12c.
A recent review by mining consultants Mining Plus this year was said to have confirmed "the outstanding nature of the Talang Santo orebody … (with) exceptionally good ore … (and) high potential for additional resources".
Highly credential geologist Doug Kirwan described the exploration potential of the Way Linggo project as "immense" during his short stint as a director of Kingsrose this year.
