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EMK Lawyers are delighted to announce that Andrew Disney has joined as a new director based in Perth. Andrew specialises in capital markets, mergers & acquisitions and corporate and resources law. EMK Lawyers is a boutique corporate and resources firm. 3591612GBEP08012017 EMK Lawyers www.emklawyers.com.au 70 Friday, August 4, 2017 WESTBUSINESS Edited by Peter Williams [email protected] For all your latest news, go to thewest.com.au/business A Sarajevo-based businessman has launched legal proceedings that could finally solve the mys- tery behind a key shareholding in the Anton Billis-run WA gold miner Tribune Resources. It is believed Franjo Bozic is claiming entitlement to $80 million of shares held in Tri- bune and its listed associate, Rand Mining, by one of their biggest shareholders, Croatian company Trans Global Capital. Mr Bozic, a former director of Rand, applied in the Supreme Court yesterday for orders against parties including Tri- bune, Rand, Mr Billis and the companies’ share registry Advanced Share Registry. The orders were not detailed during a brief mention of the application before Master Craig Sanderson, who held the matter over to August 17. However, it is believed Mr Bozic is seeking details of share dealings involving Trans Global in Tribune and Rand going back more than 20 years. Trans Global, based in Mr Bil- lis’ native Croatia, has long been a subject of intrigue among investors because of the mys- tery surrounding its ownership. The company owns 16.8 per cent of Tribune and 13.1 per cent of Rand, which are run by Mr Billis as managing director. Given its long, unshakeable support of his management, its share blocs — when combined with Tribune and Rand’s major cross-shareholdings — are seen as key to Mr Billis’ tight control of the gold companies. Tribune and Rand said they and their “associated parties” would “engage in the court proc- ess and defend their position”. “As this matter is now before the courts, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further,” a spokesman said. Advanced Share Registry did not respond to a request for comment. A director of Rand between 1996 and 2004, Mr Bozic was described at the time by the company as “a petrochemical engineer and investor”. As of last year’s annual report, he held 250,000 shares in Rand. He last appeared in Tri- bune’s top-20 shareholders with 225,000 shares in 2009. According to Bloomberg data, he is now chief executive of the Croatian-controlled, Bosnian petrol station chain Energope- trol Sarajevo. Tribune and Rand are rolling in gold courtesy of their joint venture with Northern Star Resources in the East Kundana project near Kalgoorlie. However, most of the produc- tion has been hoarded, with the companies sitting on $350 million of gold at the end of June last year. They recently declared a maiden dividend. Legal action may solve riddle t Sean Smith Former Murchison Metals boss Paul Kopejtka reckons the smart money is moving into bauxite and his private company Alliance Mining Commodities has the right project at the right time. AMC is close to securing funding for its $US80 million Koumbia bauxite project in the West African country of Guinea. The 2.1-billion-tonne project lies in the north-west of the country surrounded by bauxite mines owned by alu- minium giants CBG (Alcoa, Rio), Rusal and Guinea Alumi- na Corporation. Mr Kopejtka said Koumbia, which AMC picked up from CBG in 2005, was a tier-one asset with big tonnages and high grades (48 per cent alu- minium oxide), allowing for a direct shipping ore operation. Importantly, the ore con- tains low grades (1.6 per cent) of reactive silica, an impurity which makes it more costly to process into aluminium. Previous attempts to ramp- up Koumbia failed because of high capex costs, weak inves- tor appetite after the GFC and the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa in 2014-16. But AMC’s most recent fea- sibility study cut the estimat- ed cost of the project by 90 per cent by using surface mining methods and road instead of rail for transport. Initial plans for Koumbia are based on a 5mtpa oper- ation, whereby ore would be trucked to a river port, loaded on to barges and shipped to carriers off the coast. Mr Kopejtka said a seaborne market for bauxite had devel- oped in recent years because of the boom in Chinese car manufacturing and the deple- tion of high-grade bauxite reserves in the country. “There will always be a mar- ket for high-quality bauxite and that’s what Koumbia offers. AMC owning this asset is like a junior holding the West Angelas iron ore project in the Pilbara,” he said. AMC is chaired by former Resolute Mining boss Peter Sullivan and backed by private investors. The company plans to bring Koumbia into produc- tion next year ahead of an ini- tial public offering to fund an expansion of the project. Paul Kopejtka’s Alliance Mining Commodities company is close to securing funding for its bauxite project. Picture: Steve Ferrier Bauxite project key for Kopejtka t Stuart McKinnon WA will not be getting the war- ship sustainment and main- tenance windfall claimed by the Turnbull Government, State Defence Issues Minister Paul Papalia says. Mr Papalia told a defence in- dustry discussion yesterday the Federal Government’s $90 bil- lion shipbuilding program would not greatly alter the num- ber of Royal Australian Navy vessels based in the State. “There is no plan to signifi- cantly increase the number of hulls (ship or submarine) based in WA,” Mr Papalia told the Committee for Economic Devel- opment of Australia event. “As one class of ship ages and is decommissioned, another takes its place,” he said. The minister said there would be more submarines, but he had been told by the fleet command- er the navy was assuming some would be based on the east coast. Mr Papalia said Federal adver- tising of the program’s benefits to WA belied the fact South Australia got the windfall with $86 billion of the total build. Shipbuild claim ‘false’ t Peter Williams THIS COPYRIGHT MATERIAL MUST NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION OR PASSED ON TO ANY THIRD PARTY. CONTACT: [email protected]
