New attempt to revive manganese smelter in Tasmania

New attempt to revive Liberty Bell Bay smelter in Tasmania after liquidation started Sun 9 Aug 2026 at 12:43pm In short: The union representing workers at Australia's last manganese smelter in Bell Bay, Tasmania, says there are parties interested in taking over the site. On Monday, creditors voted to liquidate Liberty Bell Bay, leaving about 200 workers without a job after more than a year of uncertainty. The union representing workers says the latest interest is conditional on the Tasmanian government waiving the pre-existing environmental liabilities at the site and the continuation of the existing power deal. The union representing workers at Australia's last manganese smelter says there are parties interested in taking over the site. Creditors on Monday voted to liquidate Liberty Bell Bay, leaving about 200 workers without a job. Manganese is a critical component to make steel, meaning Australia no longer has sovereign steelmaking capability. The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) said a consortium involving White Oak and OM Holdings was conditionally interested in buying the site and eventually restarting the smelter. "The consortium has been involved in a range of discussions with private investors and they believe that they have enough private investors to recapitalise the plant," assistant branch secretary Richard Flanagan said. "Obviously the plant has now been idle for some time and there'll be work which will need to be done for the smelter to be ready to resume production." Liberty Bell Bay stopped operations in May last year, originally citing ore supply challenges and global market volatility. The company's owner, GFG Alliance, has been accused of moving about $200 million out of Liberty Bell Bay via inter-company loans. Liquidator EY Parthenon believes Liberty Bell Bay was trading while insolvent for more than a year, including when the Tasmanian government granted the company a $20 million loan. Of that, $14.5 million was used to purchase ore — which the government has since repossessed due to the failure of the company to resume operations. New company 'TEMCO Bell Bay' established The union said the consortium had established a new company to bid to take over the site. "From the union's perspective, this is a real phoenix opportunity and we would urge the Tasmanian government to embrace the proposal with some enthusiasm,"Mr Flanagan said. Corporate records show a company called TEMCO Bell Bay was registered in late June. White Oak is listed as a shareholder, and the company director is White Oak's Kenneth Pereira. Before the manganese smelter was bought by GFG Alliance, it was known as the Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company (TEMCO). The ABC understands the consortium is not the only party interested in the site, and liquidator EY Parthenon would need to consider any proposals. Consortium seeks exemption from pre-existing environmental liabilities Mr Flanagan said he understood the consortium's interest was conditional on the state government waiving the pre-existing environmental liabilities at the site. "So, the new owner would work and be responsible for any environmental impact that they have going forward, but the pre-existing environmental liabilities would not be their responsibility," he said. "When you have ongoing operations at a site of this nature, you wouldn't expect that there would be too much remediation which would need to be done." On top of that, Mr Flanagan said the consortium wanted the existing power deal between Hydro Tasmania and Liberty Bell Bay transferred to them. "So they would pay the power prices which were contracted by Liberty Bell Bay," he said. Resources Minister Felix Ellis said the government would have a conversation with any parties interested in the site. He did not confirm if the government would accept the consortium's requests, but said any deal had to be in the interests of Tasmanian taxpayers. "The government has received indication from White Oak that it is considering putting forward a proposal to EY," he said. "We welcome [the AWU] supporting the 10-year power agreement, which was offered to White Oak as part of the administration process." A consortium involving Adroit Capital, White Oak and OM Holdings had previously been interested in purchasing the site, until Adroit Capital pulled out of the process in June. OM Holdings is a manganese ore and ferroalloy company operating in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and China. White Oak is a United States-based investment advisor and private credit firm. Mr Flanagan said OM Holdings was interested in purchasing the ore from the Tasmanian government. He said many of the smelter's workers, who are now out of a job, would like to remain in the area. "We believe that a lot of the workers would return if that was available to them," he said. "But the longer it's left, the more likely it is workers will find alternative employment." EY Parthenon and White Oak have been approached for comment.