A bitter dispute between shareholders of West Australian company Golden West Resources culminated in a fist-fight at a general meeting in Perth on Friday.
'Blood was everywhere,' one shareholder said, as two men broke into a fight following the meeting.
Two camps of shareholders involved in the iron ore explorer have been at war with each for several weeks. Portman Limited, a U.S.-controlled iron ore producer has acquired 24 million shares, or 19.9%, of Golden West, and was seeking to get two representatives on the board.
Proxies tendered at the meeting however indicated shareholders overwhelmingly favoured the existing board members.
Aside from the composition of the board, the meeting had been called to approve a placement of up to 25 million shares, together with 25 million options, which will further entrench the existing board.
Shareholders were also being asked to vote on a new constitution.
However the main cause of the bitterness between the warring camps was a proposed controversial purchase by Golden West of mining tenements owned by Mr John Doutch, who has close ties to the existing board. Portman has attacked the Doutch deal saying it had been rejected by a number of companies, including Golden West, previously. Portman took issue with the valuation, and highlighted that under the terms of the purchase Doutch would keep $820,000 which the company paid him as a deposit, if shareholders did not approve the deal.
Australian regulators have so far not intervened, although the company has previously come under notice due to a number of placements to Doutch associates that ocurred last year.
Despite the irregularities, and the cowboy antics of Friday's meeting, Portman is likely to be defeated by the Doutch connections. The formal outcome of the voting however will not be known until Tuesday because arguments over Portman's proxies have been subjected to legal challenge.
Friday's furore, and the bitter dispute which has played out in the pages of The West Australian, and the country's national newspapers, has added fuel to the fire of the debate that Australia's western state, particularly when it comes to the mining industry, is dominated by 'cowboys.'
A bitter dispute between shareholders of West Australian company Golden West Resources culminated in a fist-fight at a general meeting in Perth on Friday.
'Blood was everywhere,' one shareholder said, as two men broke into a fight following the meeting.
Two camps of shareholders involved in the iron ore explorer have been at war with each for several weeks. Portman Limited, a U.S.-controlled iron ore producer has acquired 24 million shares, or 19.9%, of Golden West, and was seeking to get two representatives on the board.
Proxies tendered at the meeting however indicated shareholders overwhelmingly favoured the existing board members.
Aside from the composition of the board, the meeting had been called to approve a placement of up to 25 million shares, together with 25 million options, which will further entrench the existing board.
Shareholders were also being asked to vote on a new constitution.
However the main cause of the bitterness between the warring camps was a proposed controversial purchase by Golden West of mining tenements owned by Mr John Doutch, who has close ties to the existing board. Portman has attacked the Doutch deal saying it had been rejected by a number of companies, including Golden West, previously. Portman took issue with the valuation, and highlighted that under the terms of the purchase Doutch would keep $820,000 which the company paid him as a deposit, if shareholders did not approve the deal.
Australian regulators have so far not intervened, although the company has previously come under notice due to a number of placements to Doutch associates that ocurred last year.
Despite the irregularities, and the cowboy antics of Friday's meeting, Portman is likely to be defeated by the Doutch connections. The formal outcome of the voting however will not be known until Tuesday because arguments over Portman's proxies have been subjected to legal challenge.
Friday's furore, and the bitter dispute which has played out in the pages of The West Australian, and the country's national newspapers, has added fuel to the fire of the debate that Australia's western state, particularly when it comes to the mining industry, is dominated by 'cowboys.'
