Dalmore Resources: the Wilkie Creek coal company faces a winding-up application after the mine's comeback

A Queensland coal mine emerged from administration, announced plans to restart production and became the subject of a proposed US stock market listing.

Ten months after its relaunch, a creditor has applied to wind up the company holding its mining leases.

On 15 October 2026, M & Q Equipment Pty Ltd filed an application in the Supreme Court of Queensland to wind up Dalmore Resources Pty Ltd, ACN 007 683 454. ASIC published notice of the application on 21 October. The matter is listed in Brisbane on 29 October.

Is Dalmore Resources in liquidation? No. A creditor has applied for a winding-up order, and the court has not made one. An application is not a finding that the company is insolvent. It can be contested, settled, paid or dismissed.

There is also an important distinction in the records. The company facing the winding-up application is not the company that signed the proposed US listing deal.

The mining leases are held by Dalmore Resources. The February 2026 US announcement identifies Dalmore Holdings Pty Ltd, ACN 681 300 167, as its Australian counterparty. The records establish that the two companies have different identities and roles. They do not establish the ownership relationship between them.

That difference matters to suppliers, creditors and anyone trying to understand what has actually happened to Wilkie Creek. And it is only the latest chapter in a longer story.

Wilkie Creek sits roughly 30 kilometres north-west of Dalby, in Queensland's Surat Basin.

The company behind it has changed names several times. It was Peabody (Wilkie Creek) Pty Limited until July 2021. It then became New Wilkie Energy Pty Limited, before adopting the Dalmore Resources name on 23 December 2025. These were changes to the name of the same registered company, ACN 007 683 454.

In December 2023, New Wilkie Energy entered administration. On 9 January 2024, creditors voted to replace the first administrators with KordaMentha practitioners. Receivers and managers from FTI Consulting were appointed two days later.

A receiver takes control of property covered by a secured creditor's rights. An administrator deals with the company's financial position and its creditors more broadly.

By May 2024, the mine was in care and maintenance. Mining had stopped, but the site still needed people, equipment and power to manage its water and other risks. A Queensland government document from that month shows how difficult that position had become.

On 24 May 2024, Queensland's environment department issued an environmental protection order to New Wilkie Energy, then under administrators and receivers. The order runs to 11 pages. It records the site's water levels, equipment and coal stockpiles, and what the insolvency practitioners told the regulator.

One detail stands out. On 20 May, the receivers told the department they had funding to continue care and maintenance only until about 24 May. They hoped to secure more money within 24 to 48 hours.

On 23 May, the administrators told the department they had no funding to continue the work if the receivers stopped.

That made the equipment left at the mine particularly important. The department recorded six company-owned vehicles, a WA600 digger, a CAT349 excavator and eight pumps. Six of the pumps belonged to the company. Two were hired, and hired equipment was being taken off site.

There was also coal on site. Inspectors recorded about:

Those figures describe what inspectors recorded in May 2024. They do not establish the value of the coal, who held security over it, or whether any of it remains now.

The water posed another challenge. A survey on 3 May showed the East Tailings Dam 650 millimetres above its mandatory reporting level. The department was concerned that contaminated water could leave the site if water management could not be maintained.

The order required the company to keep the staff, plant, fuel and power needed to manage that risk. It also barred removing equipment needed for that purpose without the department's approval.

This was the condition of Wilkie Creek during its 2024 insolvency process, not a description of the mine in October 2026. The order does not establish that an unauthorised discharge occurred, and it does not describe the site's present condition.

What it does show is something an administration notice cannot. Even when production stops, a mine can need substantial spending, and its obligations do not stop when its revenue does.

A deed of company arrangement took effect on 17 October 2024. A deed, often called a DOCA, is an agreement used to deal with a company's debts after administration. Its terms decide how creditors are treated and what happens to the company.

More than a year later, on 17 December 2025, the relaunch was announced. A statement headed "Hall Chadwick" described the completed restructuring and said Blackbird Capital's funding had enabled the deed to conclude.

The announcement presented an ambitious plan. Wilkie Creek had historically produced at a rate of about 2.6 million tonnes of coal a year, and the new operation planned to produce up to 3.7 million tonnes, with funding directed to recommissioning the mine. Those numbers describe historical output and announced ambitions. They are not production figures for 2026.

Six days later, on 23 December 2025, New Wilkie Energy became Dalmore Resources. Another company, registered as Wilcre Investments Pty Ltd on 4 October 2024, changed its name to Dalmore Holdings Pty Ltd on the same day.

The two companies emerged publicly under the Dalmore name together. They remained separate legal entities.

On 12 February 2026, Aura FAT Projects Acquisition Corp announced a binding letter of intent with Dalmore Holdings for a proposed business combination.

Aura FAT is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC: a company formed to pursue a merger or acquisition that can result in a business becoming publicly listed. The announcement contemplated a listing on a US securities exchange, with additional capital raised through a private share placement. It also said Dalmore was working towards its first coal shipments following the restructuring.

The announcement was not a completed listing. It said expressly that a definitive agreement was not assured, and that due diligence, further negotiation and approvals were still required.

The SPAC's own filing history adds context. Its securities had been suspended from Nasdaq trading in July 2024, and a notice removing them from listing was filed in March 2025. In October 2025 its shareholders extended its deadline for completing a business combination to 18 July 2027.

That history does not show that the Dalmore proposal has ended. Equally, the February announcement does not establish that a listing occurred. Our review of the SPAC's SEC filings through 21 October 2026 found the February letter-of-intent announcement and no later definitive agreement or completed Dalmore transaction.

The announcement describes Dalmore Holdings as the business behind the mine. Queensland's mining records identify Dalmore Resources as the holder of the leases. The public record does not show whether Dalmore Holdings owns Dalmore Resources, or the arrangements between them.

That matters because a proposed transaction involving one company does not tell a creditor what assets or obligations belong to another.

Wilkie Creek is not merely a company name. The 2024 environmental order lists six Queensland mining leases for the operation: ML5908, ML50208, ML50214, ML50215, ML50276 and ML55004.

That order identifies New Wilkie Energy, now Dalmore Resources, as the leaseholder. Queensland's current mining permit records also list Dalmore Resources as the holder of the Wilkie Creek tenures.

A mining lease gives rights under Queensland's resources laws. It does not, by itself, show that the leaseholder owns the freehold land beneath it.

The current value of the mine's assets, its operating status, the position of secured creditors and its present rehabilitation obligations cannot be established from the 2024 order alone.

Against that background, M & Q Equipment's application raises a fresh legal question. The ASIC notice records:

The notice does not disclose the amount claimed, what the debt is said to relate to, or whether Dalmore Resources disputes it. As at 21 October, the public record shows the application, not a winding-up order.

For anyone supplying equipment, transport, maintenance or other services to Wilkie Creek, the first question is which company they contracted with.

The Dalmore name appears on more than one legal entity. Dalmore Resources is the leaseholding company named in the winding-up application. Dalmore Holdings is the company named in the US proposal. They should not be treated as interchangeable because they share a name.

A contract, purchase order, invoice or finance document should identify the correct entity. The ASIC notice says anyone intending to appear at the hearing must file a notice of appearance under the court's rules.

For anyone following the proposed US transaction, the SPAC's SEC filings are a separate record. A completed agreement or listing would appear there.

Has Wilkie Creek resumed commercial production? The December and February announcements described refurbishment, restart plans and prospective shipments. We could not find any public report of coal shipments or sustained production in 2026.

Does Dalmore Holdings own Dalmore Resources? Their ACNs, registration histories and stated roles are distinct. The public record does not show whether either company owns the other.

What is behind M & Q Equipment's application? The notice identifies the applicant and the proceeding, but not the amount claimed or the underlying transaction.

A fourth question is now before the court: what happens to the application.

In December 2025, Wilkie Creek was being presented as a mine returning to business. In February 2026, a US listing proposal followed. In October, a creditor applied to wind up the company holding its mining leases. The next listing is on 29 October.

Whatever happens there, one lesson is already clear from the records: the mine, its leaseholder, its proposed US partner and its creditors cannot be understood by following the Dalmore name alone.

The Open Register reports public records, not advice. This article does not establish Dalmore Resources' present solvency, the merits of the winding-up application, wrongdoing by any party, or the mine's current environmental condition.