GBM Gold says a dispute over debt with a creditor has now been resolved, stopping it from collapsing like its Bendigo subsidiary did.

Investor registry company Computershare had applied for a winding up order with the Supreme Court over the debt.

The matter has now been settled, GBM Gold chairman Eric Ng said.

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He said GBM Gold would not go into liquidation.

Mr Ng did not answer questions about the nature of the debt or if and when it was repaid.

The Computershare dispute played out as creditors continued discussions on what to do with GBM Gold's wholly-owned subsidiary Kralcopic.

The subsidiary went into voluntary administration last month, leaving the future of Bendigo's goldfield uncertain.

Creditors have been assessing options including a new deed of company arrangement.

They face an uphill battle if their goal is to restart mining in Bendigo.

The Bendigo Advertiser revealed earlier on Friday morning that members of a consortium wanting to undertake due diligence assessments at a Kangaroo Flat site were refused entry by the mining regulator.

Earlier

A CREDITOR has asked for a second company to be wound up as the fallout continues from the collapse of Bendigo's last gold miner.

Investor registry company Computershare has lodged a winding up application with the Supreme Court over alleged debts owed by GBM Gold.

GBM Gold's wholly-owned subsidiary Kralcopic is in voluntary administration following a separate Supreme Court decision barring it from operating Bendigo sites.

Computershare has declined requests for comment.

The Bendigo Advertiser has contacted a GBM Gold representative for comment.

GBM Gold has so far avoided administration, despite Kralcopic owing millions of dollars of debts when it collapsed.

Multiple creditors have been in contact with Kralcopic's administrators to see what they can resurrect.

A mining consortium has previously confirmed it is part of that push, which it hopes will keep the Bendigo goldfield open.

The Advertiser can now reveal that the consortium was blocked from entering the Kangaroo Flat site last week by state regulator Earth Resources.

Members of the consortium wanted to conduct due diligence on a potential deed of company arrangement for Kralcopic.

But the regulator's executive director Anthony Hurst said focus was on rehabilitating the former mine sites in Bendigo and Woodvale.

"The regulator is working with the administrator to finalise matters relating to Kralcopic's former mine sites and the company's outstanding rehabilitation obligations," he told the Advertiser.

"Our position is that the site must be rehabilitated as per the conditions of the previous license before any consideration is given to future uses or applications."

Mr Hurst did not rule out visits to the site for different purposes.

"Access will only be provided to assist the administrator and the company's creditors, as well as for essential site maintenance and rehabilitation purposes," he said.

The regulator previously barred any investors from applying for mining rights at Kangaroo Flat and other sites.

The move has complicated the consortium's push to work Kangaroo Flat.

One source who asked for anonymity to discuss commercially sensitive material has told the Advertiser the consortium would like to process mine tailing sands at the site using modern methods that could better extract gold and other metals.

The same source said that the current high gold price could make it viable for miners to begin exploration drilling in parts of the Swan Decline, an 18km-long tunnel from Kangaroo Flat under the Bendigo city centre.

They pointed to a section of the Swan Decline called the Nell Gynne Dome, which a previous company's research suggested contained gold.

Kralcopic tried unsuccessfully to raise the money it needed for a two-year project using exploration drilling to map out any gold deposits, before it went into administration.

The Advertiser's industry source believed the new consortium would be better financed.

Kralcopic always hoped to find six million ounces of gold in the Bendigo goldfield, based on research and estimates by geologists in previous decades.

The consortium is yet to consider how it would manage the deepest sections of the Swan Decline.

They are understood to have been flooded by rising groundwater in the decades since previous owners Unity Mining stopped operations.

The tunnel drops to about a kilometre below the surface and was built in the 1990s and 2000s by Bendigo Mining, a company that hoped modern water pumping techniques would help it find gold where past miners had not.

Meanwhile, members of a committee that once had oversight of Bendigo mining operations say they are looking forward to environmental bonds stored in case of mine closures being cashed and rehabilitation starting.

The group has not officially met since 2018, but former member Ian Magee believes there is a strong case for it coming together again.

"We understand much more financial resources are required for substantial rehabilitation works needed on four sites around Bendigo," he said.

"Over several years now, the regulator has expressed that it would engage with the community on what form rehabilitation would take."

Mr Magee is among people who believe that mining companies have overestimated the amount of gold still underneath Bendigo, and that reserves have been exhausted over 170 years of mining.

Mr Magee urged Earth Resources to consult with members of the environmental review committee, who had built up a lot of expert knowledge over the years.

The regulator is waiting for Kralcopic's administrators to make findings on the company's future before it begins rehabilitation works or community consultation.

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It is also still waiting before it locks in key details about rehabilitation.

Kralcopic is still required to appoint a site rehabilitation manager and submit a schedule of works.

It must also top up funds for rehabilitation with an extra $572,000 it agreed to pay before it went into administration.

The Advertiser is yet to establish whether GBM Gold would need to rehabilitate the site and pay the debts if Kralcopic could not.

Administrators are expected to meet with creditors later in April to make recommendations on Kralcopic's future.

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