KBL Mining’s creditors hold the future of the company in their hands, but the price has to be right.

Whether the company goes bust, or emerges from administration all rides on whether interested parties are willing to foot the bill to take over control of their Sorby Hills mine.

Administrators KPMG have three parties interested in striking a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) to get KBL (ASX:KBL), which was placed in administration in September 2016, back on its feet.

The three proposals are contingent on the creditors purchasing a package of shares that would give them control of the Sorby Hills lead, zinc and silver mine near Kununurra in Western Australia.

Receivers were appointed to KBL in September by its secured creditor Quintana who took possession of Sorby Hills in a bid to restart the operation.

However, severe rain prevented the restart and Sorby Hills was put on care and maintenance about a week after the receivers were appointed. The $80 million mine was originally scheduled to begin shipping concentrate to China in July of 2016, but the slump in base metals prices forced KBL in January 2016 to put Sorby Hills on the backburner until the market improved.

Quintana subsequently exercised its rights over the Sorby Hills shares and sold them to a new company it controlled.

Critical to the success of any deal to pull KBL from administration is the asking price of that package of shares.

The owner of the shares is now demanding a “substantially greater” price than previously advised, joint administrator Matthew Woods told shareholders.

“As such, that price is substantially greater than the price considered in each of the three DOCA variation proposals.”

The interested creditors now have until the end of January to submit final revised DOCA proposals.

KPMG plans to report to creditors by the end of February regarding the outcome of negotiations.

“We expect we will call a meeting of creditors to consider any variation to the deed or alternatively to terminate the deed and wind up the company,” Mr Woods said.

KPMG has been contacted for comment.