Fears about Chinese takeover of Cape York bauxite mine
Nick Dalton, The Cairns Post
October 2, 2016 9:00pm
FEDERAL Treasurer Scott Morrison is being urged to reject an application by a Chinese company to take over an Australian firm with bauxite interests on Cape York.
Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch is leading a push against Moly Mines, which is owned by Chinese investor Hanlong, to take over Gulf Alumina.
Several Hanlong executives have been jailed for insider trading in recent years, after the company made takeover bids for both uranium explorer Bannerman Resources and iron ore aspirant Sundance Resources in 2011.
Moly Mines, which is 53 per cent owned by Hanlong, has been suspended from trading on the ASX since April 2014.
Moly has made an offer to acquire unlisted bauxite developer Gulf Alumina, which is seeking to build a bauxite export business on Cape York Peninsula, just north of Rio Tinto’s bauxite export operations at Weipa.
“I have serious concerns about the integrity of the company. I also have serious concerns about their motives,” Mr Entsch said.
He said he had raised his concerns with Mr Morrison’s office and would talk to the Treasurer personally.
“I will be expressing a very strong objection,” he said.
Mr Entsch said there were “fairly damning” reports about the company and its executives, “ a lot of warning flags”.
He said he appreciated there was a process to be considered. “But I would be very surprised, given his consistency in other areas, that he will ... support this,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Mr Morrison would not address the concerns.
“The government does not comment on individual FIRB (Foreign Investment Review Board) cases before the government for decision making,” she said.
It is the second time this year that a suitor has tried to acquire Gulf. ASX-listed Metro Mining made unsuccessful offers in 2015 and earlier this year.
Metro’s takeover bids resulted in the company acquiring 39 per cent of Gulf shares.
Ironically, Metro is Gulf’s biggest shareholder.
“The proposed transaction is subject to many conditions, some of which may be very difficult to satisfy,” Metro said.
Metro did not indicate whether it would make a rival bid for Gulf, but said in a statement that it “remained open to bringing about the logical combination of Metro and Gulf’s projects”.
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)