Gold: Orinoco calls in the administrators

Troubled gold producer Orinoco Gold (ASX:OGX) has called in the administrators.

Pitcher Partners told the market late Monday that two of its representatives had been appointed as administrators of Orinoco.

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Orinoco has been in dire straits for some time and investors are not happy.

The Brazil-focused producer faced numerous problems with production at its Cascavel gold mine and was the subject of allegations of poor operating procedures, gold theft and conflicts of interest.

A number of shareholders turned to the ASX and ASIC in the hopes of sparking a shake-up of the current corporate regulations.

>>Read what shareholders had to say here

Adrian Byass, who was named as the new chairman in mid-February following the departure of Joseph Pinto from the role, told Stockhead last month that Orinoco shareholders had every right to be upset about the “extremely poor performance” of the company.

Since March last year Orinoco’s share price has disintegrated from a 52-week high of 13c to trade at an all-time low of 0.2c. That’s a 98.5 per cent dive.

It once traded at nearly 35c — in late 2012.

One shareholder lost his entire life savings — hundreds of thousands of dollars – while others suffered relationship breakdowns.

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