Clive Palmer has announced the sale of North Queensland’s mothballed Yabulu nickel and cobalt refinery to Swiss-based Zero Carbon Investek, with hundreds of jobs tipped to flow under an 18-month restart plan.

The billionaire businessman did not disclose the sale figure, but The Australian reports a price tag around $2 billion.

And Zero Carbon Investek flagged plans to sink a further $1.2 billion (US$800 million) into the plant post-acquisition.

In a media statement on the sale, the parties said the Yabulu restart plan was designed to optimise refinery operations and tap the extensive tonnages of nickel and cobalt contained in the Townsville site’s tailings storage facility.

The new owners also plan to transition to net zero carbon through the replacement of coal and gas-fired steam and power generation with solar energy.

“An 18-month restart plan positions Yabulu to rapidly become amongst the Top-10 largest nickel assets in the world, with a production capacity of 53.5Ktpa of nickel and 3.7Ktpa cobalt,” the sale announcement stated.

“Both are strategic and critical minerals playing a major role in industrial processes, global decarbonisation and electrification. It is used for the production of electric vehicles (EVs), renewable power generation, battery manufacturing, energy storage, aerospace, defence and health.

“Zero Carbon Investek is currently in advanced discussions with a number of globally significant strategic players who are seeking product offtake opportunities, alongside investment.

“Under Zero Carbon Investek, the refinery will directly employ approximately 800 staff, upon restart of operations, and many more during the construction period.”

The refinery has been in care and maintenance since 2016 after the business went into administration, costing more than 700 workers their jobs.

Mr Palmer said the sale would bring enormous economic and environmental benefits to the people of North Queensland and wider Australia.

“I am happy to announce that this first-class asset has found enthusiastic and expert new owners in Zero Carbon Investek,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“I look forward to the Queensland Government and all relevant authorities lending their full support to the new owners. This is a big win for the people of North Queensland providing jobs and economic benefits.”

The Zero Carbon Investek syndicate is headed by Dr Richard Petty, who said the Yabulu refinery was positioned for an exciting future.

“Whilst the restart of the refinery is the key strategic priority, Zero Carbon Investek is also targeting the development of a large scale, 1.5Gw solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and battery storage facility at the refinery site to create new industry opportunities and sustainable environmental benefits,’’ he said.

“Reducing the carbon intensity of operations through the development of solar PV is a key priority for Yabulu moving forward.

“The Yabulu large-scale solar project will be situated in the Northern Queensland Renewable Energy Zone (QREZ) and is set to become a main contributor to the Queensland Government’s new Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan which has a target of 70 per cent renewable energy by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035, representing an $85 billion investment into the energy system.”

The sale is conditional upon typical regulatory approvals, including the Foreign Investment Review Board.