Receivers are preparing to put Nathan Tinkler’s Aston Metals resources company up for sale after it failed to pay its debts.
The metals explorer, which owns five projects around Mt Isa in Queensland’s northwest, was placed in the control of receivers on Tuesday, putting the future of up to 12 staff at risk.
Joint venture partners will also review their tenement agreements as John Park and Quentin Olde of FTI Consulting carry out the receivership process.
The receivers are now reviewing each of the company’s projects with a view to putting them up for sale.
They said debt owned to funds managed by investment firm OCP Asia had not been paid.
“Aston Metals and Mr Tinkler have received a number of notices over the previous 30 days requesting payment of the debt as per the rights of the secured creditor,” the receivers said in a statement.
“This would not be a surprise for Aston Metals or Mr Tinkler.”
The receivers are expected to contact creditors and look at the best way to maximise the sale value of Aston Metals’ assets.
Aston Metals includes silver, copper and zinc among the metals for which it was searching.
It had been conducting exploration work at Walford Creek in 2011 and 2012.
Aston Metals chief executive Dan Johnson told investors in July that the company was eager to develop Walford Creek into a long-term, viable mining operation.
At that time the company had an operational team of 12, including six geologists, five field crew and one tenement manager based in Mount Isa.
Mr Johnson said he was not prepared to discuss what had happened at the company as it was now in administration.
“I’m legally obliged to work with the administrators, so I’ll have to decline to be any more helpful than that,” Mr Johnson told AAP.
Aston Metals is Mr Tinkler’s main remaining asset in the resources sector after he sold his stake in Whitehaven Coal for $600 million in June.
Mr Tinkler, a former billionaire, has been under financial pressure for some time due to the end of the coal price boom.
He has been unable to repay massive debts to creditors, leading to the sale of his Whitehaven stake, the liquidation of other companies, and the sale of assets including race horses and helicopters.
