Former Beacon Minerals Limited project manager Alexander John McCulloch pleaded guilty on Thursday to one rolled-up count of insider trading, ASIC said. The count was amended to include two trades. A second insider trading charge was discontinued.
ASIC said McCulloch procured two associates, Christopher Allan Gall and Thomas James Collins, to acquire 11 million shares in Beacon Minerals in January 2017 while he was in possession of inside information. At the time, McCulloch was responsible for managing the gold exploration drilling program for Beacon’s Jaurdi Gold Project.
The inside information related to stage one drilling results that had not yet been disclosed to the ASX. Beacon Minerals’ share price rose 33% after those results were publicly announced on 31 January 2017, according to ASIC’s original 2021 charging release.
McCulloch had previously pleaded not guilty to two charges of insider trading. The matter had been provisionally listed for trial from 9 to 20 November 2026.
He will now appear for a sentence hearing on 23 September 2026.
The case is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following a referral from ASIC. It is the second resolution in the broader Beacon Minerals insider trading matter. Darryl Brian Mapleson, the former Competent Person on Beacon’s ASX drilling announcements, pleaded guilty to one count of insider trading in May 2025 and was later sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, to be released forthwith upon entering a recognisance, plus a $60,000 fine.
