The government needs six of the eight crossbenchers to repeal the carbon tax and is counting on David Leyonhjelm, Bob Day, the three PUP senators, and Ricky Muir of the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party. Illustration: Cathy Wilcox. However, Mr Palmer's wealth valuation could get a boost on Wednesday when he reveals his party's voting intention regarding the repealing of the carbon tax, to be considered by the new Senate on July 7. The fortunes of several other miners, including those with private companies such as QCoal managing director Chris Wallin, will also be hit on this year's BRW Rich List. Some of those with assets in listed companies have also been hit hard, such as Linc Energy chief executive Peter Bond and long-time prospector Mark Creasy, who has investments in small and medium miners.

The S&P/ASX Resources 200 index is down almost 2 per cent since January 1. Much of the drop in Mr Palmer's valuation is attributed to troubles that have struck Sino Iron, the Pilbara based iron ore mine that forms the basis of his personal fortune, and falling coal prices. The Sino Iron magnetite project has been hit with huge budget blowouts, significant delays and legal battles between Mr Palmer and China's international investment arm, Citic. Citic Pacific is building the $10 billion project in Western Australia and, as well as experiencing large financial losses, has battled Mr Palmer's Mineralogy investment company over the terms of royalty payments and control over an export facility. The investment by Citic in Mr Palmer's project has been described as one of the worst mining investments in Australia in the past decade.

However, considerable royalties are meant to be paid to Mr Palmer as a result of the deal he struck with Citic. Already, more than $600 million has flowed to the billionaire, including $200 million in April last year. Falling prices have also hit the value of Mr Palmer's coal assets, which includes a $6.4 billion future coal project in Queensland's Galilee Basin. Mr Palmer's Waratah Coal was given approval late last year to build a thermal coal project near Alpha in central-west Queensland, as well as a rail line linking the project to a proposed port extension at Abbot Point. Palmer has also golf course and tourism assets such as the Palmer Coolum Resort, which has attracted notoriety for his collection of replica dinosaurs. As has often been the case, Mr Palmer holds plenty of other assets that could one day reap big rewards. It is a strategy he has employed for decades, including the acquiring of mining assets in WA in the 1980s. One is a gas deposit off Papua New Guinea, which Mr Palmer said last August could be worth $35 billion. There has been no news on the project since.

He has also commissioned the construction of a replica of the ship the Titanic, reputedly to be ready to sail in 2017. The BRW Rich 200 is out on Friday, inside The Australian Financial Review Magazine and online at BRW.com.au. Follow us on Twitter