MELBOURNE, April 12 (Reuters) - The administrators of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd, owned by Australian politician Clive Palmer, on Tuesday recommended putting the company into liquidation.
FTI Consulting said it was also seeking $190 million from the operators of the refinery, a joint venture run by two Palmer-linked units, for employee entitlements and unsecured creditor claims.
The recommendation to wind up the company will be voted on by creditors on April 22, and could potentially trigger sales of assets owned by the current operators of the refinery.
The plant, at Townsville in Australia's northeast, went into voluntary administration in January as a collapse in nickel prices CMNI3 to 12-year lows pushed it into financial difficulty.
Palmer, however, wrested back management control of the plant as the head of a new joint venture, Queensland Nickel Sales Pty Ltd, and announced his intention to keep the refinery open.
"As administrators, we recommend that creditors resolve... that the company be wound up," FTI consulting said in a statement.
Palmer, who could not immediately be reached on Tuesday for comment, said last month the refinery was unlikely to restart before late July.