The group wants to stop the Swan Decline being sealed off in the aftermath of this week's Supreme Court decision denying mining company Kralcopic's rights.

The consortium of industry insiders is understood to have contacted administrators of Kralcopic and state mining regulator Earth Resources Regulation to express their interest in being part of future underground mining activity that would require the portal to remain open.

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The consortium is sounding out the chances of a new deed of company and the chances of the Swan Decline - an 18km-long tunnel dug from Kangaroo Flat under central Bendigo over the 1990s and 2000s - remaining open.

It comes at a precarious time for mining underneath Bendigo's streets.

This week, the Supreme Court upheld the regulator's 2019 decision to revoke Kralcopic's rights to work the Kangaroo Flat site.

Kralcopic had already gone into administration the week before as creditors pressured it and parent company GBM Gold over unpaid debts incurred over five years of Bendigo operations.

The regulator has not ruled out rehabilitating the site, which would have the support of a number of community advocates and residents who live near the company's former sites.

One is Mary Markey, whose house overlooks the Kangaroo Flat site and who for years represented the area's residents on a community oversight committee.

She has spent 25 years watching a succession of companies try and fail to find a bonanza in the 170-year-old goldfield.

"The gold wasn't there, all they got was leftovers," Mrs Markey said.

But a consortium of mining industry players sees an opportunity to cash in on one of history's richest goldfields.

One source familiar with the bid told the Advertiser it would be "crazy" to rehabilitate the site too soon given how much money had been spent building the tunnel.

"You'd be shutting the gate on a $200 million investment in the Swan Decline. It doesn't make any sense to do that before you've fully explored all options there," they said.

The source asked for anonymity to discuss a commercially sensitive matter.

They said the consortium of "well-known" resource industry players would need to convince regulators it had the financial capacity to fund works and meet regulatory costs.

Kralcopic ultimately failed to do that, prompting Earth Resources Regulation to revoke its licences.

The Advertiser's source suggested the consortium would not have the same problem.

They said mining industry figures twice presented an investment plan to GBM Gold's board several years ago. The plan allowed financial support for up to $12 million dollars.

At the time, GBM Gold's board was confident of financial backing from other sources, the source said.

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Administrators have confirmed they have been approached by parties about a potential restructure of the company.

Exactly how that might work was still to be decided, according to Paul Burness from specialist insolvency agency Worrells, which is overseeing the administration.

"We are still the very early stages," he said.

"The second meeting of creditors will most likely take place in April. We would like to be in a position by then to have put forward some concrete proposals for their consideration."

The company went into administration before Tuesday, when the Supreme Court upheld the state mining regulator's 2019 decision to revoke Kralcopic's rights to Kangaroo Flat and Woodvale sites.

That decision dramatically changed the options available to regulator Earth Resources Regulation and the state government.

The Advertiser's industry source said all eyes are now turning to the government and the political mood in Spring Street.

The source acknowledged that there were community members who wanted to close the mine but that the state's current exploration boom and COVID-19 budget pressures might influence a decision.

But it remains unclear how enthusiastic both the regulator or the government might be to hand rights to the Kangaroo Flat site over to another company.

Some industry figures believe old time miners believe their might be millions of ounces of gold still lying beneath Bendigo's streets, though community advocates say failed bids to find it over the last 25-years show that is highly unlikely.

Still, Kralcopic and other mining businesses have long hoped to use modern techniques to try to extract gold from more than 400,000 tonnes of discarded mining tailings at the surface of the Kangaroo Flat site.

Miners believe there is roughly $10 million worth of gold in the tailings, based on current Australian gold prices.

Machinery to process the tailings is already on site. Company Gold Miners Australia brought it in as part of a deal with Kralcopic some years ago, though it has sat idle since the latter lost its rights.

Both companies had wanted to sell processed sands for commercial use when the machinery was installed on site and it is not clear how any future government decisions would affect that part of the plan.

Mrs Markey, the community advocate, hoped the sands would be used to seal Kangaroo Flat's mining tunnel.

Earth Resources Regulation's executive director Anthony Hurst told the Advertiser an exemption had already been put in place to prevent future licence applications.

"A consultation with the Bendigo community regarding future uses of the land will be undertaken," he said on Wednesday.

The Advertiser approached two cabinet ministers for comment, including current resources minister Jaclyn Symes.

It also approached former resources minister Lily D'Ambrosio, who oversaw the portfolio in 2016 when Kralcopic was deemed financially fit to inherit the Bendigo licences.

The Advertiser asked both ministers for their reactions to the Supreme Court ruling and whether, in retrospect, it had been a mistake to award Kralcopic the licences in the first place.

Staff for both ministers said it would be more appropriate for the regulator to answer questions.

The regulator made its 2019 decision to revoke Kralcopic's rights based on independent financial reports, according to documents tabled ahead of the Supreme Court case. Kralcopic disputed that assessment.

It remains unclear what administrators might recommend after they finish their investigations into Kralcopic's finances.

The company went into administration before Tuesday, when the Supreme Court upheld the state mining regulator's 2019 decision to revoke Kralcopic's rights.

Whatever happens next, Mrs Markey hopes authorities will give community advocates more opportunities to share their knowledge about the Kangaroo Flat site, much of which was gleaned over decades watching multiple companies try and fail to make a go of the goldfields.

"We could have told a panel our experience ... we were not given that opportunity," she said.

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