Friday, 15 February 2019 KordaMentha is pleased to announce the successful completion of the sale of the Marda Gold Project in Western Australia to Australian gold miner, Ramelius Resources, for $13 million. Ramelius is a Western Australian gold producer that has been listed on the ASX since 2003 and in production since 2006. The sale was finalised on February 7, and consists of 74 tenements located within the Southern Cross region of WA. It’s not the first acquisition for The Mark Zeptner-led company, which also acquired the Edna May Gold Mine from Evolution Mining in 2017. The Marda project, which is located 191km north-north east of the Edna May operations, will act as a feed source to the Edna May mine, where the ore will be processed. Marda hosts a resource of 2.07 million tonnes at 2.3 grams per tonne for 151,000 ounces of gold. KordaMentha was appointed as liquidators to Black Oak Minerals’ Marda Gold Project. To finalise the sale, the liquidators had to first apply to the Federal Court to appoint themselves and Richard Tucker, of KordaMentha Restructuring, as administrators to enable the company to enter into a deed of company arrangement, which was subsequently approved by creditors. The process involved expert evidence from the administrators indicating the shares held no value due to the considerable debts of Black Oak Minerals. “As far as we are aware, it is the first time a company that was in liquidation has transitioned to voluntary administration to execute a sale via section 444GA of the Corporations Act in Australia,” Mr Tucker said. In total there were some 70 expressions of interest in the Marda project, with seven final offers submitted from interested parties ranging from $4.3 million to $14 million. “It was a competitive sales campaign with some very solid offers, but in the end we determined that the Ramelius offer via acquisition of the ex-listed corporate entity presented the greatest outcome for all stakeholders.” Mr Tucker said. Mr Richard Tucker said he was pleased to see the continuation of the Marda Gold Project under the direction of the Ramelius team. “Their ongoing development of the project is sure to create further jobs and opportunities for those within the local Southern Cross region and mining sector,” he said. “That is a result we always welcome, and it was satisfying to be able to play a role in ensuring the ongoing strength of the Australian mining sector.” Richard Tucker, Robert Hutson and Jarrod Villani will remain as trustees of the creditors’ trust which was established as part of the DOCA to execute the distributions to employee creditors. Distributions are expected to be paid in the second half of this year. Johnson Winter & Slattery advised the administrators on the sale process, DOCA and section 444GA court application.