The Bounty board had placed the company into voluntary administration effective 11 November.

“This was due to: the inability to raise capital in an extremely difficult commodities market; the on-going cost of supporting a workshop for the company’s equipment in Queensland; and a lack of new contract mining opportunities,” Bounty said in a statement.

“Through this action the directors hope to restructure the company and continue the development of the Wongai project [in north Queensland].”

As reported in International Coal News last week, the directors of the narrow seal coal contracting specialist warned that if it could not obtain funding its projects and the company’s future as a going concern was in doubt.

The company, which lost coal contracts with Anglo American in central Queensland, had been struggling for some time and saw the development of the Wongai coal project as a means of offsetting the drop off in contracting work.

During the 2015 financial year borrowed $17,000 from a company associated with its chairman and CEO Gary Cochrane.

This was short-term working capital loan unconnected to the company’s major loan facility. This loan was partially repaid during the September 2015 quarter.