Nathan McMahon passes away

Mining industry veteran Nathan McMahon has passed away at the age of 51, just days after leaving the board of the company he founded, Cazaly Resources.

Cazaly announced on Monday that Mr McMahon had “vacated his position as a director of the company due to personal reasons”.

Chairman and co-founder Clive Jones said the company would “greatly miss Nathan’s energy and leadership”.

“It has certainly been an exciting and fulfilling ride working with Nathan through the industry ups and downs over all this time,” he said on Monday.

“We will all miss Nathan’s unique insights and leadership.”

Mr McMahon died yesterday.

He co-founded Cazaly in 2003 and served as its managing director through until July last year, when he became a non-executive director.

He came to prominence in the mid 2000s when Cazaly was at the centre of a legal dispute with Rio Tinto over control of the Shovelanna iron ore deposit in the Pilbara.

Cazaly swooped on the tenement after Rio inadvertently failed to renew its licence.

However, its hold on the tenement was overturned after a protracted legal battle that ended up in the High Court (see more below).

Cazaly tried a similar move in 2009, when it sought to gain control of the giant Rhodes Ridge iron ore deposit in the Pilbara.

The Warden's Court rejected Cazaly's claim that Rio and joint venture partners, Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting, had failed to renew their rights for the tenements.

In 2019, Cazaly sold its Parker Range iron ore project in the Yilgarn region to Mineral Resources, after trying over many years to develop the project.

Mr McMahon had served as a director of numerous listed exploration companies, including Galan Lithium, White Star Resources, Catalyst Metals, Bannerman Energy and Corazon Mining.

The Shovellana dispute became politically contentious after former politicians Brian Burke and Julian Grill were engaged to act as lobbyists.

Their conduct was the subject of a secret review by a parliamentary committee, which recommended charges be laid against several people, including Mr McMahon.

The saga was covered in Mr Grill’s recent memoir, who bemoaned the treatment of Mr McMahon.

“Forget the politicians and lobbyists like myself for the moment,” Mr Grill said.

“Mr McMahon was the managing director of a small WA mining company.

“He was trying to earn an honest living. He had an impeccable record.

“His company was operating lawfully pursuant to the State’s Mining Act.

“Unlike Rio, he was not petitioning the Government for special favours.

“Cazaly was a junior Australian company acting on the best legal advice it could buy and with an experienced lobbyist, Peter Clough, to guide it through the political minefield.

“Instead of being treated fairly and respectfully, Mr McMahon was tried in a secret court before being paraded as a delinquent and ultimately made the subject of a seriously threatened criminal charges.

“He had no idea that he would be accused of criminal conduct. It would have come as a bombshell.”