Wiluna Mining: Milan Jerkovic tells shareholders he’ll keep pressing for answers from FTI administrators

The former boss of gold play Wiluna Mining has vowed keep scrutiny on the collapsed company after a legal manoeuvre by administrators fizzled out. Wiluna’s one-time chair Milan Jerkovic wrote to shareholders in recent days saying he would continue to pressure FTI Consulting over stewardship of the miner after it sunk in 2022. “I still don’t have all the answers that I have sought, and I intend continue to press for my inquiry,” he said. Mr Jerkovic lodged a Supreme Court bid in October seeking to install Cor Cordis for an investigation of Wiluna amid frustrations that he and other creditors were not getting paid, even as a surging gold price boosted the embattled miner’s coffers. That bid was temporarily parked after FTI lodged a Supreme Court bid to exit as administrators and waive incomplete clauses from a 2022 deed of company arrangement. It’s understood that would have in effect nixed any investigation. But the move was partly dropped and partly knocked back by Justice Matthew Howard. Judge Howard did however fix up an issue in the creditor’s trust which would have inadvertently reduced proposed payments to unsecured creditors. Almost $40 million is set to flow next year to the gold miner’s creditors with administrators hoping to relist the business. A spokesman for FTI said the court had found “it was not necessary” to rule whether the administrators were “acting properly and justified in waiving the conditions precedent” as it would be a commercial decision. The fight for the Goldfields mine also took a fresh twist last week as Russian investor Maxim Geyzer sold almost 11 million shares to contractor Byrnecut for 72.5 cents each. Administrators had previously said in a creditor’s report that Mr Geyzer had not paid $7 million for shares bought in a May 2022 capital raise. It also signals another buyer in the hunt for Wiluna ahead of a mooted initial public offering next year. Annie Creasy’s AIM Mining had offered to acquire Wiluna shares at 50 cents each in late October.