Qld Nickel requires a guarantee, not taxpayer funds – Palmer
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining personality Clive Palmer on Thursday said that embattled refinery Queensland Nickel was only experiencing a “small deficit” in cash flow, adding that the company was in fact in a strong cash position, with about A$1.95-billion of unencumbered net assets.
Palmer said in a statement that despite unencumbered assets of nearly A$2-billion, the company was denied a A$35-million overdraft by the four major Australian banks, as the financial institutions had chosen not to invest in the resources sector during the downturn in the commodity cycle.
As a result, Queensland Nickel had turned to the state government for assistance.
However, Palmer said that the company was not requesting taxpayer funds, but rather a guarantee from the Queensland government which would act as security for the A$35-million overdraft.
“In my assessment, this is a risk free proposition that would ensure the continued operation of the refinery. Queensland Nickel is not asking for money like the A$40-million a year the government pays to the foreign-owned Boyne smelters in Gladstone,” Palmer said.
“I have personally sourced meetings with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to help resolve this issue but she is continually not available or not interested. It’s disappointing that the Premier and Treasurer Curtis Pitt do not seem concerned about the people of North Queensland, they obviously lack leadership and compassion,” he added.
The Treasurer earlier this week said that the state government had not made any decision on whether to bail out Queensland Nickel.
Queensland Nickel is one of Australia's biggest nickel refineries with a capacity of 35 000 t/y, and is responsible for approximately 722 direct jobs and at least 1 500 indirect jobs.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Established in 1983, the ASTPM is an industry association and representative body of the welded carbon steel tube and pipe manufacturers of South...
VISIT SHOWROOM
CSIR International Convention Centre (CSIR ICC) - the leading conference and events venue in Pretoria/Tshwane.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
