Peabody Energy will not sell Wilkie Creek mine to Nathan Tinkler

Peabody Energy has pulled the US$ 130 million sale of its Australian Wilkie Creek coal mine to former billionaire Nathan Tinkler.

Tinkler had hoped the purchase of Wiklie Creek could spark somewhat of a coal comeback. The young entrepreneur and former pit electrician became Australia’s youngest billionaire, but lost it all when coal prices crashed.

According to Reuters, Tinkler’s Singapore-based Bentley Resources made a non-refundable payment for the mine when it agreed to the cash-and-debt deal in May but subsequently missed instalments, Peabody said.

Peabody said Bentley had been unable to meet its obligations to close the deal and said it was "evaluating its alternatives" for the closed coal mine in Queensland's Surat Basin.

The deal for US$ 70 million cash plus assumption of US$ 60 million in liabilities had come as a surprise to bankers and analysts, who knew that Peabody had wanted well over US$ 500 million for the mine when it was put on the block more than two years ago.

After failing to attract a buyer, Peabody closed Wilkie Creek in December 2013, blaming weak coal prices, high costs and the impact of Australia's carbon tax, which has since been axed.

Tinkler made his first big bet on an unloved AU$ 15 million coal project in 2006 and rode Australia’s mining boom. His success peaked in 2012 with a US$ 5 billion merger between his Aston Resources and Boardwalk Resources with Whitehaven Coal Ltd.

Just over a year ago, with coal prices still in the doldrums from H2 2012, Tinkler was forced to give up his stake in Whitehaven Coal to pay off creditors. 

Edited from various sources by Sam Dodson

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/28082014/nathan-tinkler%E2%80%99s-coal-comeback-off-the-cards-1257/