Associate Justice Rodney Randell

An appeals court has upheld a ruling that found two firms previously run by Joseph “Diamond Joe” Gutnik and his family were insolvent, ending a long-running battle over hundreds of millions of dollars in mining assets.

An appeals court has ordered a phosphate mining company owned by mining magnate Joseph Gutnik to pay back more than $225,000 owed to the Queensland state government or face immediate liquidation, accusing the company of showing a “cavalier attitude” towards earlier orders made by the court.