The Tasmanian government has shut down the Hellyer mine after it fell behind on paying its debt and other compliance issues.
Resources Minister Felix Ellis said the government directed Hellyer Gold Mines Pty. Ltd. to cease mining operations due to multiple and significant non-compliances with financial and operations requirements.
“When a company extracts and sells a Crown-owned mineral, it must meet its obligations,” Ellis said.
“Hellyer has fallen significantly behind in paying their debts due to the crown and other compliance issues have continued to escalate. This action is necessary to prevent those matters worsening.”
The minister said the gold mine had been given multiple opportunities to address the non-compliance issues but still failed to meet its obligations. Ellis said mining operations may only resume once the company has addressed these issues.
Hellyer Gold Mines CEO Graham Cox said the shutdown is a “deeply damaging” decision and madewithout consulting the mine.
“This is an act of bureaucratic overreach that puts hardworking Tasmanians out of jobs and jeopardises a world-class, Australian-owned business that has worked hard to meet every obligation placed before it,” Cox said.
“We have acted transparently, responsibly and in full cooperation with the Tasmanian government.”
Cox said the new ownership group has transformed Hellyer mine into a world-class and debt-free operation after reopening the mine 13 months ago.
The company also employs more than 70 Tasmanian workers and has returned taxes and royalties to the state government, including legacy payments owed by former owners.
Cox is now calling on Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff to immediately intervene and overturn the closure order and restore the mine’s operations.
Cox noted that Hellyer Gold Mines only owes Minerals and Resources Tasmania (MRT) the sum of AU$566,034 and that the company has paid MRT over AU$8.6 million in royalties and contributed millions more to Tasmanian state-owned corporations.
“We are committed to doing the right thing,” Cox said.
“We’ve worked in good faith to take on an operation that was dead and in debt and turn it around within a short period of time to become one of the world’s most environmentally and financially responsible mining operations and all we ask is that we be treated with the same good faith in return.
“Tasmania cannot afford to lose the jobs, the investment or the credibility that this mine represents.”
