Billionaire prospector Mark Creasy set to rescue gold miner Calidus Resources

Famed prospector Mark Creasy is seeking to rescue collapsed gold miner Calidus Resources weeks after buying the company’s $149 million debt from Macquarie Bank. The West Australian revealed the Pilbara miner’s collapse in late June and the company’s Warrawoona site was put on care and maintenance just days later. Mining was paused but about 70 staff remained to process stockpiled ore. Mr Creasy is the sole director of West Coast Gold — a business registered in late August — that has lodged a deed of company deal to revive Calidus. West Coast is ultimately controlled by Mr Creasy’s Yandal Investments, which held assets of more than $1.3 billion at the end of June 2023. Administrators from FTI Consulting have backed the deal ahead of a meeting next week. It was in a field of two key competing bids — a $170m proposal underwritten by Petra Capital, and a $135m play by an unnamed overseas proponent. FTI told creditors the West Coast proposal stands the best chance of keeping Calidus running and the jobs online. The deed arrangement will offer returns to creditors of Calidus’s six business units ranging between 0.3 cents to 100¢ in the dollar. West Coast will take control of shares in the key operating businesses. Calidus had owed about $149m to Macquarie Bank through a loan and a hedging facility until Mr Creasy stepped in to buy the debt in a deal late in July. Mr Creasy’s team will have about three months to get the miner back online before the stockpile of ore runs down. In their report, administrators said Calidus had hit the wall after inflation drove up costs and due to underperformance against geological modelling. ASX-listed Calidus was producing between 60,000 and 70,000 ounces of gold a year at the mine near Marble Bar. Contractor Macmahon had a $210 million deal to mine Warrawoona until 2026 but pulled about 60 staff offsite following the appointments of administrators and receivers.