Australia’s only manganese smelter to close, administrators say

Australia’s only manganese smelter, the Liberty Bell Bay smelter in Tasmania, will close immediately after a proposed sale fell through, administrators said on Thursday.

The smelter, formerly owned by British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, entered voluntary administration in March after suspending operations mid-last year.

“In the absence of both a commercially viable transaction and the funding required to continue operations, the Administrators have made the difficult decision to commence the orderly closure of the business with immediate effect,” administrator EY said in a statement.

GFG did not immediately return a request for comment.

The closure follows a period of disruption for the smelter, which had cited adverse market conditions and ore supply problems linked to cyclone-related setbacks at key supplier, South32’s Groote Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO).

Industry Minister Tim Ayres said a serious buyer could not be found despite federal and state government support, which included A$10 million ($6.99 million) in wages, an A$20 million start-up package, and the continuation of a 10-year concessional power agreement struck with GFG Group last year.

($1 = 1.4302 Australian dollars)

(By Christine Chen and Melanie Burton; Editing by Sonali Paul and Rashmi Aich)