Atlas cannot abandon the mining lease, it can only attempt to do what Anglo is doing at Callide, which is to sell to a junior. Now, the difference is, Anglo will get $120M out of the dunderheads at Queensland Government by clawing back their mine rehab funds. This makes sense for them to do, even if it is a bastard act. Queensland will have to foot the bill to clean up the mess.
Atlas doesn't get anything back by flipping the lease to a shell company. If you knew anything at all (you don't, so no worries here, i'm just spitballing) you would know that the new fangled WA system is to contribute into the Miner Rehabilitation Fund. So AGO's mess will be cleaned up, eventually, by everyone else in the industry.
However, any application for a new mining lease is entirely up to the discretion of the mining minister, who may use his power of discretion to knock back an application from a company of 'bad character' or which is demonstrated to be unable to comply with the conditions of it's lease.
Abandoning the mining leases not only would wipe off any asset values (imperilling the asset valuation to shore up the debt), it would imperill the ability of the company to apply for and be granted any further mining leases, let alone do deals with every other company in WA who have to see a hike in their MRF rates to clean up AGO's mess.
Finally, to drive home how truly terrible a commentator you are and how people really should not listen to you at al, may I remind you that, aside from having to hold onto exploration and mining tenements to maintain asset backing for the debt calculations, the debts Atlas holds are secured against the mining leases and exploration tenements.
Atlas can not, even if it wanted to, cut and run, because the bank has a mortgage on the company's tenements.
So, sorry mate, Atlas is stuck.
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