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Struggling outback mines are at risk of being prematurely moth-balled by administrators seeking the “path of least resistance” whereby closure is quicker than negotiating terms with a new buyer, Katter’s Australian Party Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter has said.

Mr Katter, who has this week written to the Queensland Miniter for Natural Resources and Mines about the issue, said he’d received multiple reports in recent years following mine closures in his electorate that administrators were stone-walling interested buyers, instead rushing to move insolvent sites to remediation and letting go hundreds of workers in the process.

The long-term result, the Traeger MP said, is that local economies suffer from reduced economic activity, vital regional jobs are lost forever and state mining revenue is reduced overall.

“Over the years I’ve developed a built-in paranoia with administrators – I’ve seen hard evidence too many times of administrators cashing in on a mining business when there have been legitimate purchasers ready to keep the operation going,” Mr Katter said.

“No one wins from this – not those who lose their jobs, not local businesses who have contracts cancelled on and not the broader regional or Queensland community who have important economic activity ripped out.”

Mr Katter said he was keenly following the voluntary administration process surrounding the insolvent Ardmore Phosphate Mine, located south of Mount Isa.

He said he was aware of multiple serious buyers looking to take-over the operation from Centrex Limited, which would be the best outcome for the region.

“Anything less than a sale of that site would be extremely unsatisfactory given all the known circumstances,” he said.

Approximately 150 local jobs, and a number of local suppliers seeking to be paid or have their contracts honoured, hang in the balance following Centrex’s insolvency announcement two weeks ago.

The junior miner, which fell victim to tight profit margins and exorbitant logistic costs largely due to government fees, has appointed John Park and Joanne Dunn of FTI Consulting as joint administrators.

“(The Administrators) have commenced a process for the sale and/or recapitalisation of Centrex Limited (Administrators Appointed) and its 100% ultimately owned subsidiary, Agriflex Pty Ltd,” Centrex’s statement said at the time.

“It is anticipated that final offers will be sought from interested parties by 25 March 2025.”