A Supreme Court judge has backed claims by Chinese conglomerate CITIC that mining operations in Western Australia employing about 3000 people are at risk in a long-running war with billionaire Clive Palmer.

In a judgment handed down in Perth on Wednesday, Justice Gary Cobby accepted claims from CITIC subsidiaries that the company’s $US12 billion ($18 billion) Sino Iron magnetite operations could have to shut down and said there was “real public interest” in a resolution to the legal disputes with Mr Palmer.