MINERS had not set aside enough money to rehabilitate a raft of Bendigo sites before their company collapsed, liquidators concluded in a report that sheds new light on regulators' push to rehabilitate multiple sites around town.
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The liquidators were also unsure what the funding shortfall was, in an observation with potential ramifications for the state government's multi-million dollar rehabilitation plans for sites including in Kangaroo Flat and Woodvale.
Their findings are contained in a July 2021 report that sheds new light on the fallout from the collapse of Kralcopic, which until recently held mining rights around Bendigo.
The liquidators' report was published following consultation with state government regulators, former company administrators and directors, as well as a review of Kralcopic's financial documents.
It has come in an important period for Kralcopic's parent company GBM Gold, which has been trying to recoup nearly $7 million from its subsidiary following the collapse and is now facing a separate wind up order through the Federal Court of Australia.
In the report, liquidators tell all of Kralcopic's creditors that they are unlikely to get much, if any money out of remaining funds and assets, despite one Kralcopic bank account containing $5.948 million.
That money was already earmarked for the state government to spend on environmental rehabilitation.
What was more, "it is expected that the total cost of rehabilitation and remediation works will exceed the value of the term deposit, although the exact shortfall has not been determined," liquidators said.
Kralcopic had also failed to remove a $6 million processing plant from a Kangaroo Flat mining earlier this year.
Any remaining equipment was deemed to be part of the land that state mining regulator Earth Resources Regulation took possession of.
ERR director Anthony Hurst said his group is yet to decide what to do with what is left of Kralcopic's old assets.
"The immediate priority is to make the sites safe," he said on Tuesday.
"Earth Resources Regulation has taken initial steps to secure public and environmental safety at Kralcopic's former mining sites prior to their rehabilitation."
That includes laying a polymer over tailings and mining ponds both in Kangaroo Flat and Woodvale, Mr Hurst said.
The polymer could reduce the risk of dust blowing off of both sites in summer.
Residents and environmental campaigners have long feared that the dust could contain arsenic.
"We'll continue to keep the Bendigo community informed as we prepare to rehabilitate the former mine sites, including continuing to release the results of dust monitoring," Mr Hurst said.
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