Mr Tinkler said late on Tuesday he would appeal Justice Jacqueline Gleeson's judgment, which stems from a dispute over money owed from the sale of a luxury jet. Trading in shares of Australian Pacific Coal, the corporate entity Mr Tinkler is using for his return to the coal industry, were suspended on Tuesday following the bankruptcy judgement.

Mr Tinkler owes GE Commercial Australasia $US2.25 million ($3.2 million), which was calculated as the equivalent of $2.8 million, including accrued interest of $19,451.23, when the bankruptcy notice was issued against Mr Tinkler in July last year. Mr Tinkler has argued the bankruptcy notice was defective due primarily to the use of the "telegraphic rate of exchange" in the notice.

“I am in a position to pay,” Mr Tinkler said Tuesday of the debt owed to GE Commercial.

“I dispute the amount.”

Tuesday's judgment comes at a delicate time for Mr Tinkler, as it follows by a matter of a little over a week the raising of $20 million to part-fund the purchase of a coal mine as he seeks to resurrect his business interests.

Late in January, Australia Pacific Coal, of which Mr Tinkler is the chief executive, raised $20 million to finance the initial payment due for the $50 million acquisition of the Dartbrook coal mine from Anglo American.

Mr Tinkler’s plans for the Dartbrook mine near Aberdeen, which has been mothballed for some time, have upset the equine industry as it lies only a matter of kilometres from some stud farms such as John Messara's Arrowfield stud, triggering concerns over coal dust as well as the impact of blasting at the mine.

The bankruptcy ruling is the latest in a litany of legal actions involving Mr Tinkler, which at one point included having an arrest warrant issued over the liquidation of his Patinack Farm equine venture.

If the bankruptcy ruling stands, it may prevent Mr Tinkler from being a company director since bankrupts are not allowed to be company directors. Under the judgment, the bankruptcy would take effect from July 16, 2016.