Jon Rudolph’s risky investments in the mining business have come back to haunt him.
The Yukon businessman, whose road and mine construction companies were industry stalwarts for 20 years, has declared personal bankruptcy, according to court documents filed on January 22.
A string of Rudolph’s companies have each been hit with major financial setbacks in the last few years. One by one, their debt began working away at Rudolph’s prospects for recovery.
He lent a lot of money to his mainstay construction outfit, Golden Hill Ventures, and to his new mining acquisitions, Ross Mining and the Ruby Creek mine.
Both mines failed to earn a profit under Rudolph and took away important sources of revenue.
Ross Mining was put into receivership in July after Rudolph couldn’t pay back the mine’s former owner.
Golden Hill Ventures ran into trouble in the fall when the company’s biggest creditor, General Electric, demanded a loan payment.
Soon, General Electric demanded the whole $7-million loan back.
Rudolph had to fork over hundreds of pieces of equipment General Electric had secured in the loan agreement, including trailers, drills, trucks and a small Bell helicopter.
He wasn’t bankrupt and would rearrange his finances to get out of the mess, he said in a public statement in late December.
Golden Hill Ventures was declared insolvent that same month.
Now Rudolph faces personal insolvency.
It’s a way for a person to pay back creditors without going into full-blown bankruptcy proceedings.
In total, Rudolph owes $12 million to creditors, including the Canada Revenue Agency.
He reached an agreement with his creditors to pay them back two weeks ago, according to court files.
The creditors will receive the equivalent of five cents for every dollar they lent him in unsecured debt.
The proposal will happen over five years and each creditor will only receive up to $130,000 per year.
Rudolph has about $230,000 in unencumbered assets, which include cash, furniture and equity in both a vehicle and a house.
Golden Hill and Rudolph are also each facing major environmental fines for dumping pollution and moving waste around the territory without a permit.
Contact James Munson at
jamesm@yukon-news.com