A Perth-based mining and energy company that has pending projects in the Northern Territory that were previously touted by Chief Minister Michael Gunner has been put into administration, documents from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) show.

Gold Valley Holdings and related company Gold Valley Iron have been placed under administration over alleged unpaid debts.

A spokesman for Gold Valley claimed chairman Yuzheng Xie had placed Gold Valley Holdings into administration himself “to head off claims against a predatory lender” and had made the necessary payments.

Another subsidiary, Gold Valley Energy, meanwhile filed a winding-up application on October 18, 2021, however, the application was withdrawn following payment to the creditor.

The company was the proponent of the $100 million Kittyhawk micro-LNG Project in Darwin which was put on hold for “commercial reasons” in 2020.

The company earlier said that plans for the project had been deferred because “other projects that the company is intending to use the Darwin gas for, have been delayed.”

It remains unclear what effect the company’s current financial difficulties will have on the future of the Kittyhawk LNG project.

On an October 2019 trip to China, Chief Minister Michael Gunner witnessed Gold Valley Holdings representatives signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese-owned ENN Ecological Holdings Co. Ltd for a major $100 million investment in Gold Valley Energy’s Kittyhawk Micro LNG Project to be built outside of Darwin.

“The $100 million project has the potential to deliver cheaper and cleaner energy to remote energy users, energise the NT’s remote industries and directly create up to 100 jobs during the construction phases and around 40 ongoing jobs for 20 years once operational,” a statement from the company said at the time.

Gold Valley is chaired by Singaporean-born Australian businessman Yuzheng Xie who was educated in Australia, China and Singapore and has lived in Perth for 20 years.

ENN Ecological Holdings Co., Ltd meanwhile is a China-based company engaged in the clean energy industry.

In February 2020, Kimberley Metals Group terminated Gold Valley Iron Ore’s (GVI) right to mine its Ridges iron ore deposit after administrators from KordaMentha were appointed to GVI.

A subsidiary of Gold Valley owned a $2 million stake in mining company Emmerson Resources, which has interests in 42 exploration licenses, covering 2,300km within the Northern Territory and NSW.

One of Gold Valley’s liquidated assets, Frances Creek mine, was bought by Darwin-based NT Bullion in 2020. Gold Valley acquired it from Noble Group for A$1 in 2018, according to the Financial Times.

NOTE: This story was updated after the original story ran to reflect a more accurate picture of Gold Valley’s predicament.