Nick Paspaley, the pearl king of Australia, has moved a step closer to buying the Dartbrook coal mine with controversial former mining magnate Nathan Tinkler.
John Robinson and Nick Paspaley, both Northern Territory businessmen, have loaned the ‘boganaire’s’ junior mining company Australian Pacific Coal $20 million to buy Dartbrook, in the NSW Hunter Valley, from mining giant Anglo American.
Nathan Tinkler is a former billionaire whose mining empire collapsed in 2012 following the slide in coal prices, and who now plans to develop a five million tonnes per annum, open pit operation at the currently closed mine.