Montauk Metals collapses into bankruptcy after protracted Colombian expropriation battle

Montauk Metals Inc. has filed an assignment in bankruptcy after its board concluded it could not secure the creditor support required to advance a restructuring proposal, closing the book on a years-long struggle tied to the expropriation of its Colombian gold property and a prolonged securities compliance crisis. The Toronto-based explorer filed an assignment in bankruptcy on November 20 under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, and Fuller Landau Group Inc. has been appointed as trustee. All directors and officers resigned immediately before the filing, leaving the trustee to administer a modest estate that consists of cash balances below outstanding liabilities, with no prospect of shareholder recovery.

Trading in Montauk’s shares has been suspended since earlier this year when the company failed to file its 2024 audited financial statements, MD&A, and related certifications. Cease trade orders were issued in the spring, and both the company and the TSX Venture Exchange now signal no expectation of reactivation. The compliance failures punctuate an already damaged platform, since Montauk had been operating without an active mineral asset ever since the Colombian government expropriated its high-grade gold project without compensation. Montauk had previously delineated sizeable measured, indicated and inferred ounces at strong grades, and claims to have spent more than USD $16 million on the property before losing its restitution case in a split international tribunal ruling.

Unable to source a replacement asset and constrained by limited liquidity, the board explored a formal proposal under the BIA. That path depended on the support of Montauk’s largest creditor. Negotiations failed, and the board opted for an assignment as the only viable route. Fuller Landau will now oversee creditor notifications, asset realization, and distributions.