The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has launched a Supreme Court bid to wind up Liberty Bell Bay, the operator of Tasmania's only manganese smelter, following a prolonged period of regulatory non-compliance.
In an application filed in the Supreme Court of New South Wales on March 6, the corporate watchdog sought to liquidate the GFG Alliance-owned entity on "just and equitable grounds."
The move follows the company’s repeated failure to lodge annual financial reports for every financial year between 2021 and 2024.
ASIC further alleges that the smelter has failed to submit its FY25 annual report, leaving creditors and the public in the dark regarding its financial health.
The regulator previously secured court orders in June 2025 to force compliance; however, Liberty Bell Bay failed to meet those obligations, and a subsequent bid to extend lodgement deadlines was rejected in November 2025.
The legal action marks a critical turning point for the site, which has been in indefinite suspension since June 2025.
The smelter's stability has been under intense scrutiny since January 2026, when the Tasmanian Government appointed receivers and managers to secure a $20 million manganese ore stockpile.
The intervention was triggered by ongoing defaults on a state-funded loan intended to restart operations.
With approximately 250 jobs at stake, the wind-up application adds significant pressure to Sanjeev Gupta’s embattled industrial empire as it faces mounting debt and regulatory hurdles across its Australian assets.