Gold Valley Holdings, Territory Resources and Warrego Operations - Voluntary Administration

Gold Valley Holdings, Territory Resources and Warrego Operations, a group of Perth-based mining companies, entered voluntary administration on 6 December, with John Bumbak and Richard Tucker of KordaMentha appointed as voluntary administrators.

Gold Valley Holdings was established to be the ultimate holding company of a number of subsidiaries which held mining assets, including Territory Resources and Warrego Operations. Until 2019, Territory Resources held the Francis Creek iron ore mine near the town of Pine Creek in the North Territory as its main asset. The mine was held through a subsidiary whose shares were sold in 2019. Warrego Operations held a number of assets related to the Warrego Mill processing plant.

The companies were refurbishing the mill until 2019, when they ran out of funding and defaulted on the credit facility provided by secured creditor TransAsia Private Capital.

A series of insolvency appointments followed between 2020 and 2022, with all three companies ultimately being placed into liquidation.

In May 2024, the companies, their director and TransAsia entered into a settlement deed which resolved a number of financial and legal disputes between the companies and determined their future. The plan involved placing the companies into administration so that the director could propose a DOCA, the purpose of which is to maximise the chances that the companies and their business will continue in existence and to provide a greater return to creditors than a liquidation. The proposed DOCA contemplates a total payment of $476,000 across the three companies in exchange for, among other things, the release of claims and counterclaims. The meeting to vote on the DOCA is scheduled for January 22.