A merger involving failed Rocklands copper mine operator CuDeco...

A merger involving failed Rocklands copper mine operator CuDeco and Mt Cuthbert Resources is on the table under a proposal to be put to creditors.A phone hook-up is planned next Tuesday for creditors of CuDeco, which went into administration last year and is estimated to have debts around $190 million.A report from the administrators indicates CuDeco incurred losses every financial year from at least 2013 to 2019, totalling more than $609 million, with operations plagued by design and construction problems with the processing plant.Former employees and small creditors (with claims less than $50,000) are being offered 64c and 24c in the dollar respectively, while CuDeco is proposed to be merged as a new entity with active copper miner Mt Cuthbert Resources under a deed of company arrangement proposed by a key lender.Mt Cuthbert Resources general manager Stewart Robinson said the potential merger deal was still in its early stages, with many details still to be worked through.“It is a very complicated situation with CuDeco. We are interested in doing a merger, we have made a formal position but at the moment it is still a work in progress, nothing is definitive,” he said.The Mt Cuthbert Resources copper operation, formerly Malaco Leichhardt, is based around Mount Cuthbert, north-west of Cloncurry.Operations at CuDeco’s Rocklands copper mine at Cloncurry have been suspended since August 31 2018.Lenders China Tonghai International Financial Limited (CTIFL) appointed three members of FTI Consulting as receivers and managers of CuDeco in July 2019 following a strategic review of funding and restructuring options.The company entered into voluntary administration a week later, with Matthew Joiner and Jeremy Nipps of Cor Cordis appointed as administrators.