More than 500 workers at Clive Palmer's Townsville nickel refinery will be sacked today unless the troubled plant receives the relevant licences to continue operating.

Key points: 550 workers at Clive Palmer's nickel refinery, near Townsville, will lose their jobs on Friday

550 workers at Clive Palmer's nickel refinery, near Townsville, will lose their jobs on Friday New management, another of Mr Palmer's companies, awaiting environmental licence before it can rehire workers

New management, another of Mr Palmer's companies, awaiting environmental licence before it can rehire workers State Government looking at processing environment applications this week

A Palmer-owned company, Queensland Nickel Sales (QNS), took over as manager of the refinery on Monday after former manager Queensland Nickel, another of Mr Palmer's businesses, went into voluntary administration.

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Queensland Nickel's administrators FTI Consulting said yesterday they had "notified the majority of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd employees of their termination of employment, effective as of 5pm Friday".

"Queensland Nickel Sales Pty Ltd, the newly appointed manager of the refinery, may offer current employees of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd employment but the Administrators are currently unaware of the terms or timing of those offers," it said.

QNS said it could not re-employ the workers until it had gained the environmental licence by the State Government.

The Government said QNS only applied to take over the Environmental Authority on Wednesday, with FTI consulting endorsing its transfer yesterday.

Environment Minister Steven Miles said it was astonishing Mr Palmer only chose to act on Wednesday.

"I've asked [the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection] to ensure the application assessment for Queensland Nickel Sales is done as swiftly as possible with the appropriate checks and balances in place," Mr Miles said.

The department is considering whether the new company can re-employ staff while that process is underway.

The Federal Government has announced that the retrenchment program put in place on January 20 after a further 237 Queensland Nickel workers lost their jobs will be extended to anyone who is made redundant, including in the supply chain.

The Government will spend an extra $1.9 million to help them find new work.

Refinery 'run into the ground', worker says

Mr Palmer took control from administrators through QNS. ( AAP: Dave Hunt )

Father-of-two Darren Morris, who worked at the refinery for seven years, is one of the 550 workers who will be sacked.

He said it was inevitable and had little faith the refinery would continue, with port and environmental licences outstanding.

"I can't see it happening really," he said.

"It was never going to continue under the same ownership and management.

"Everything he [Mr Palmer] has touched he has ruined, so I guess the day was always going to come.

"The place has been run into the ground."

It's 'game over red rover' says union

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The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AWMU) has met with staff, who it says have been left in the dark.

Spokesman Cowboy Stockham said if their jobs went, he believed they would not receive their entitlements as Queensland Nickel had collapsed with 137 creditors.

"People have totally lost faith in Mr Palmer and the management teams there," he said.

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The Australian Workers' Union's Ben Swan said the refinery was already into care and maintenance and the rail contract with rail company Aurizon had been cancelled, meaning it was difficult getting ore.

"It's game over red rover and they are out of a job, unless something spectacular happens," he said.

"Not to say that in two weeks' time they might get a new offer, but winding this thing back up is like climbing Everest.

"What can you say to people? The jobs are gone at 5:00pm Friday."

Mr Palmer took over the refinery from BHP in 2009, when it was already 35 years old and carrying significant environmental liabilities.

Tailings dams at the plant contain thousands of tonnes of toxic waste products.

The cost of remediation has been estimated at between $40 million and several hundred million dollars.

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