Caledon Admits Sale is Off

After nine month attempting to dig up a buyer, Caledon Resources, the Australian coalminer, has admitted defeat.
The group, down 19.75p to 38.25p, said it was ending its sale process after no potential suitor had come up with a final offer since it first hired RBC to find a buyer at the end of February after receiving a bid approach.
The news is a blow for investors including its original founding chairman, Stephen Dattels, the Canadian mining entrepreneur. Mr Dattels, who had been ousted, built a 26% stake via Polo Resources, down 0.22p to 3.78p, another AIM-listed coalminer he runs, won a seat back on the board and initiated the departure of the sitting chairman.
Caledon said in August that Essar Minerals of India was one of the interested parties. Others were thought to include a US mining investor and there were suggestions of an 80p-a-share bid price.
The company said that there was still a positive outlook for coal and it would focus on increasing production at its only active mine, Cook Colliery in Queensland, and on developing its uptapped Minyango coal field.