Pacific Bauxite collapses

THE last days of 2019 signalled the collapse of yet another mining sector junior with Pacific Bauxite saying it did not have support from its shareholders, despite an 11th hour switch away from its troubled Solomon Islands projects towards Australian gold.
Pacific Bauxite collapses Pacific Bauxite collapses Pacific Bauxite collapses Pacific Bauxite collapses Pacific Bauxite collapses

Haydn Black

Reporter

The company had just $A158,000 cash at the start of the December quarter, just enough to meet staff costs until the end of the year. 
 
Attempts to raise $991,000 at 0.05c dragged on, but three months of efforts it gained little support. 
 
The offer was extended several times and closed on December 20 with a limited response, even after announcing an option over Ebagoola South, part of the underexplored Hamilton goldfield on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula.
 
With a lack of meaningful support, and initial hopes of selling its bauxite projects in the Solomon Island fizzling out despite reports of unsolicited approaches just days earlier, there was little choice left to the board. 
 
Directors Craig Smith and Campbell McKenzie, and company secretaries Catherine Grant-Edwards and Melissa Chapman, resigned on December 23 after the board recognised the company's "very vulnerable position".
 
All four had been appointed in June.
 
Voluntary administrators Hall Chadwick will work with non-executive chairman Peter Lewis to try to recover some value. 
 
Having sold its Australia iron ore and gold royalty interests for a quick cash injection, Pacific Bauxite's remaining assets include the Nendo and South West New Georgia projects in the Solomon Islands and the Darling Range applications in Western Australia.
 
Nendo has long been subject of legal issues, with claims it did not properly consult with stakeholders and failed to meet minimum work commitments.
 
The fate of the project remains undetermined. The Solomon Islands government had been considering cancelling the licence.
 
Pacific Bauxite hoped to develop a 7500 tonne per day direct shipping operation and claimed it had met all licence conditions.
 
The $10,000 Ebagoola South option, which requires $2 million in exploration, expires in May.
 
Pacific Bauxite shares last traded at 0.3c, valuing the company at just $1.2 million. 

 

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