Clive Palmer chalks up twin losses: in court and at auction

Two fundraising measures to help Clive Palmer’s companies failed yesterday.

Clive Palmer speaking at a press conference about Queensland nickel. Picture: Tara Croser

Two fundraising measures to help Clive Palmer’s companies failed yesterday.

A $137.5 million lawsuit against his ­estranged Chinese business partners was struck out and the Mamelon cattle station west of Rockhampton failed to sell at auction.

Queensland’s Supreme Court struck out the bid filed by Queensland Nickel — now under administration — to ­receive $137.5m in compensation from Sino Iron and parent company CITIC. This is in relation to a West Australian royalty ­dispute involving Mr Palmer’s flagship Mineralogy.

QNI had claimed Mineralogy would have transferred $110m for upgrades to the Townsville refinery, resulting in cost savings of $137.5m to the company.

But Sino applied for the case to be struck out on the basis that it did not owe any ­royalties to the company and QNI was an unrelated party.

Judge David Jackson agreed, ruling the alleged loss came “at the end of a long causal chain” and there was no direct link ­between Sino and CITIC and ­operations at the nickel refinery.

QNI was last week replaced as the plaintiff by two other companies — QNI Resources and QNI Metals — that own the Townsville refinery.

The refinery’s owners were ordered to pay costs, understood to be several thousand dollars.

Mamelon Station, owned by another of Mr Palmer’s companies, failed to sell at auction ­yesterday.

QNI administrators FTI Consulting ordered it sold to help pay off the company’s more than $100m in debts.

The 6258ha beef cattle breeding and grazing operation was bought by ­refinery parent company QNI Metals in 2010 for $8.3m.

Two of Mr Palmer’s mining companies have coal tenements on the site.

Despite early interest by central Queensland graziers, the property was passed in at $1.5m, far less than administrators were hoping. It is understood private negotiations are now ongoing with prospective buyers.

It comes as the Queensland government threatened Queensland Nickel Sales with a $2.65m fine over excessive ­ammonia levels in two nearby creeks.

The Palaszczuk government has said water samples from Alick and Blink creeks had ­levels exceeding the company’s Environmental Authority water quality criteria.