Quantum managing partner Greg Mazur, who plans to become chief executive if his move succeeds, said Intrepid was a company in "crisis" and shareholders had seen $1 billion of value destroyed in the last two years.
He said that while Intrepid had been involved with the Tujuh Bukit project in Indonesia for five years it still did not have a direct interest in the operation and, despite that, it had spent more than $US100 million ($97m) of shareholder funds on exploration.
Quantum also highlighted that Intrepid's share price had fallen 89 per cent over the past two years, making it one of the worst-performing companies on the S&P/ASX 200 Index during that period. Shares in Intrepid yesterday fell 6.38 per cent to 22c.
Intrepid's woes began in July last year when it revealed it had been locked out of Tujuh Bukit, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits, by its Indonesian partner, PT Indo Multi Niaga. The local owners then transferred the ownership of Intrepid's beneficial 80 per cent stake in the project to a new vehicle, PT Bumi Sukses Indo.
The shareholders of PT BSI are said to include some of Indonesia's richest men, including Edwin Soeryadjaya, as well as Singapore-based fund Provident Capital Partners. Mr McMaster said the board had always maintained it was entitled to an 80 per cent economic interest in the project, adding that he was hopeful the legal system in Indonesia would uphold its rights outlined in the agreement with PT IMN.
He had told shareholders in Intrepid's annual report, released earlier this month, that the firm had tried to have an open dialogue with the parties behind the seizure of Tujuh Bukit, only to receive contradictory denials of their involvement and payoff offers that fell short of fair compensation for Tujuh Bukit's future worth.
Mr Mazur revealed yesterday he had held talks with Mr Soeryadjaya, co-owner and chairman of Adaro Energy -- Indonesia's largest coalminer -- but he denied claims by Intrepid that he was working with Mr Soeryadjaya as part of a plan to take control.
The activist shareholder said while he had met the billionaire more than 10 years ago when he was advising a client that was in negotiations with Mr Soeryadjaya, he had only recently contacted him when it was speculated he was now one of the controlling shareholders behind the project.
Mr McMaster said the investment firm was being opportunistic by approaching the other parties while the ownership of the project was in dispute. He noted Quantum had taken a stake in the firm only after Intrepid was evicted from the site last July.
