The Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery was operated by
Queensland Nickel. The Yabulu refinery became operational in 1974 after completion of the
Greenvale to Yabulu railway line. Mining at Greenvale took place between 1974 and 1992 during which
nickel laterite ore was transported to the Yabulu refinery by rail and processed up until 1993. Importation of ore from mines in
New Caledonia,
Indonesia, and the
Philippines began in 1986 and continued until 2016. In 2009,
Clive Palmer bought Queensland Nickel and the Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery. Up to 750 people worked at the refinery, which produced of
nickel and of
cobalt per year. According to the general manager Trefor Flood, this figure had risen to of nickel per month by early 2010. In 2013,
World Wide Fund for Nature Australia (WWF) raised concerns that a
tailings dam at the site could collapse during the
wet season, posing an environmental threat to the
Great Barrier Reef. WWF later retracted their comments, apologised and agreed to pay legal costs incurred by Palmer who sued WWF because of the comments. On 15 January 2016 the company terminated 237 workers. Palmer blamed poor nickel prices, at a 12-year low, and the refusal of the Queensland government to guarantee a loan of , but the ABC reported that Queensland Nickel had donated over $6 million to the
Palmer United Party. The leader of the opposition in Queensland supported the government's refusal to guarantee the loan on the grounds that it was not the proper role of government and that Palmer had used Queensland Nickel funds for his political party. On 18 January 2016 Queensland Nickel entered
voluntary administration. In March 2016, the remaining employees of the refinery were sacked, and the refinery shuttered. The company has since been liquidated, and its business registration cancelled. == Education ==