Joseph Gutnick

Joseph Isaac Gutnick (Diamond Joe) (born June 1952) (Hebrew: יוסף יצחק הכהן גוטניק‎‎) is an Australian businessman and mining industry entrepreneur. He is also an ordained rabbi and is well known for his philanthropy in the Jewish world. In July 2016 Gutnick declared bankruptcy.

Among Gutnick's business holdings:

After almost having been ruined by the 1987 stock market crash, Gutnick was advised by Rabbi Menachem Schneerson to go back to the Australian desert and search for "gold and diamonds". He was responsible for overseeing the discovery of the Plutonic gold deposit, as well as the discovery, development and operation of the Bronzewing and Jundee gold mines in Australia. Gutnick also was a director of the World Gold Council and was awarded the inaugural Diggers Award at the 1997 Diggers and Dealers Industry Awards.

In 1991, his company, Great Central Mines, paid A$115 million to prospector Mark Creasy for the Bronzewing gold deposit. In 1999, Gutnick along with partner Robert Champion de Crespigny was found to have illegally structured a takeover of Great Central Mining. Gutnick was ordered to return $28.5 million to investors. Gutnick appealed the decision and the decision was vacated for lack of jurisdiction. Gutnick expressed confidence that he could have won on the merits too, had that been necessary. On 5 April 2000, Joseph Gutnick, Robert Champion de Crespigny and Ian Gould resigned as directors of Great Central Mining.

In January 2014 it was announced that Blackham Resources, of which Gutnick is the chairman, had acquired the Wiluna Gold Mine, a mine Great Central Mines, under his leadership, held from 1997 to 2000. The mine was purchased from APEX Minerals, a company in receivership since June 2013, whose chairman at the time was Eduard Eshuys. Coincidentally, Eshuys was also in charge of the drilling program that discovered Plutonic for Gutnick. Gutnick had become chairman of Blackham on 4 February 2013 when his private company, Great Central Gold, invested A$13.32 million in Blackham.

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