New Caledonia's loss-making SLN nickel company has approached the commerce court to accompany its affairs as it faces the risk of becoming insolvent.
SLN nickel smelter in Noumea New Caledonia Photo: RNZ Walter Zweifel
The move is aimed at finding amicable solutions with creditors and partners of the company as it struggles to survive.
SLN is the territory's biggest private sector employer with more than 2000 people on its payroll while thousands more jobs depend on its mines and plant.
Just over a month ago, the French parent company Eramet, which has a 56-percent stake in SLN, announced a loss of $US733 million for the first half of the year and said it was unlikely to assist SLN further.
Eramet called on the other stake holders to help SLN, which warned that it was on track to use up the remainder of a $US600 million loan, given to it in 2016 by Eramet and the French state.
To get urgently needed cash, SLN applied for a permit to export two million tonnes of nickel ore, but the pro-independence camp remains opposed to selling raw material.