Ballarat gold mine: Consultants step in to rebuild confidence

Investment firm Arete Capital Partners confirmed it will be advising the mine's owners, Balmaine Gold, in "external stakeholder engagement and operation".

The mine's parent company, Singapore-based Shen Yao Holdings, remains the major shareholder.

According to a media release, Arete was previously involved in the Stawell Goldmine, acting as the lead advisor for the purchaser in 2017, with an "ongoing exclusive mandate to advise the owners ... in the rebirth process", going from 12 employees to 300 today.

The Ballarat gold mine faced an investigation from the mining regulator after claims of alleged tunnel collapses and safety hazards last year - as well as an order to stop using a rock dump, there were concerns about management "competency" which led to regulators stepping in.

The management reshuffle will mean Shen Yao Holdings will be the ultimate owner of the mine in a more hands-off fashion, and Balmaine Gold will "control and manage the mine licence worksite".

According to documents submitted to the Singapore Stock Exchange, the former Balmaine chief executive and managing director Wang Yong resigned in February, citing "health reasons".

Mine manager Trevor Callow stepped into the role in the interim "and will be responsible for the management and operations of Balmaine Gold Pty Ltd until a suitable candidate is found for the role of General Manager", the document states.

Last week, former gold mine general manager Steve Jeffers, who is part of Arete, returned to the position.

"We're pretty excited - we've been able to secure some funding to set the mine up properly for the future, as not only Shen Yao, but Liongold before them, haven't been able to do for various reasons," he said.

"There's a lot of potential here, Arete saw that and they've been interested for a number of years.

"They want to reproduce the Stawell success story, and the mine's a technicially difficult one, nuggetty gold under a large community, but the sort of people that are running Arete are not afraid of that, and they reckon there's a lot in it."

Arete Capital will provide "advice and direction on all aspects of mine operations including mine administration, underground mining, minerals processing, waste management and regional exploration, extending to critical areas such as government, environmental and community relations", the media release states.

"Where required, Arete may tap into its considerable financial network of contacts in the finance and mining industry to assist in any fund-raising exercises" for potential expansion, it adds.

Arete chief executive Campbell Olsen said he is "firm in the belief that the Ballarat Gold Mine has a strong future".

"Our due diligence gives us every reason to believe the Ballarat Gold Mine team can discover and deliver new commercial gold production and that modern-day exploration at both the existing mine and surrounding areas will identify new gold mineralisation," he said in a statement.

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"Our immediate plan is to assess all aspects of mine activity, with a view to working with Balmaine to enable it to return the facility to healthy and responsible gold production.

"This will be done in partnership with government and the local community. It's an exciting era for the Ballarat mine and its stakeholders."

The Ballarat gold mine reopened in 2006, and has gone through several iterations.

It currently employs more than 200 people, not including subcontractors and suppliers, and is the third biggest mine in Victoria.

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