Association of Mining and Exploration Companies says North-West remains “highly prospective” for copper resources

North-West Queensland remains ‘highly prospective’ for future copper resources, Australian mining companies say.

Mining - Copper Mount Isa, Denise Kokles, Electricians, Cap Lamp Area, R62. Workers at Glencore’s underground copper operations at Mount Isa Mines in Queensland.. Picture - Supplied

Queensland, particularly in the North-West, remains “highly prospective” for copper resources and well placed for the future, the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies says.

Warren Pearce, CEO of the national association that represents almost 600 member companies, said there was currently a “huge exploration effort” in and around Mount Isa.

“We’ve got many mineral exploration companies and mining companies looking to find the next significant copper mine in Queensland and Australia,” he said.

“They’re operating in an environment where, worldwide, the ability to turn on new copper resources quickly or even in the medium-term looks relatively low so they are going into a market or looking to go into a market where growth is expected to be significant over the next 10 to 20 years but the supply coming into the market isn’t expected to meet that demand.”

Seismic trucks conducting a geophysical survey in Queensland’s North West Minerals Province.

The copper sector has been a crucial component of the Queensland economy for in excess of 150 years, ranging from exploration and mining to metal smelting and refining.

“Presently, copper is an important contributor to the state’s economy, directly employing as many as 5000 people and providing $2.7 billion of annual export revenue (2023),” according to a snapshot of Queensland’s copper sector published on June 3.

“Copper is also leading the mineral exploration expenditure in Queensland, accounting for $163m or about 46 per cent of total in 2023.”

The Geological Survey of Queensland says that as of late 2023, the state’s copper resources stood at about 11 Mt, or about “60 years of resource life at 2023 production levels”.

The report is considered by at least one academic to paint an overly rosy picture of the sector with just 10 per cent of resource base is in play, “a very small number for a massive resource base”.

Glencore will benefit from an international transition to renewable energy and zero-emissions targets, but will also need to adapt to these goals in their own operations, including in Mount Isa. Picture: Glencore.

Mr Pearce said, however, that there remained a lot of “medium-term optimism”.

“We’re not going to be turning these things on in the next 12 to 18 months but the reality is within a five-year window we should have an idea about which one of these projects will move forward and then going into what we expect will be a market that has a higher level of demand than supply coming into it – that a really good space to be.”

He said that despite the issues surrounding Glencore, “Mount Isa is a globally significant copper province and there’s no reason to expect there’s not more copper resources there”.

“Indeed, that’s what are member companies are betting on.”

Mr Pearce said its members were backing the government to continue investing in infrastructure to continue to drive the industry.

“The reality is there is not a lot of infrastructure … we need to encourage the government to continue investing in that space and we need to make sure that they are continuing to make an environment that is more certain for private investment,” he said.

Developing the North West Minerals Province opens up more export opportunities from the Townsville port. Photo: Cameron Laird

“Ultimately, that is what will help these projects come into the light.”

He said infrastructure covered roads, rail, water, telecommunications and energy, including the vitally important CopperString electrification project that needed to include Mount Isa.

“That will be an important component for companies being able to access energy but also for renewable projects to be able to feed energy into that grid.”

Mr Pearce said copper was a vitally important global resource that was now the “backbone to the renewable transition”.

“Really now it is up to the industry to find ways of turning on projects and the government to find ways of supporting the necessary infrastructure to enable us to do that.”

Mining has started at Austral Resources' new Anthill copper operation about 100km north of Mount Isa.

He said that while all resources were vital to the economy, “Queensland has got one of the biggest opportunities outside of coal to make an economy-wide difference”.

“The projects are huge, they’re big bulk projects and they require huge amounts of capital investment, they’ve got lots of opportunities for jobs and they’ll create significant royalties for the state economy,” he said.

“This is a space you really want to be in and Queensland’s got the geology to support that, there’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t push forward to make the most of it and if we do that the mining industry will continue to flourish and support the Queensland economy for decades to come.”

Mount Isa Mines. An overview of the copper smelter in 1979.

Queensland Resources Council CEO Janette Hewson said the Australian Government needed to declare copper a critical mineral, as it was already recognised by other countries as essential to “powering emerging technologies and the energy transition”.

“There is an expected shortfall of 30 per cent in copper supply globally by 2030 and Queensland has the reserves to take advantage of this opportunity if governments get the policy settings right.”

She said that 70 per cent of the state’s base metals and minerals could be found in the North-West Mineral Province, which contained $680 billion of new economy metals.

The Mount Isa Mine dominates the town of Mt Isa on a very hot summer day. Elevated view from lookout. Horizontal, copy space.

“While it’s been previously argued that copper has established supply chains, the sheer volume required to meet surging global demand means the government needs to do more to expedite production and support processing.”

Ms Hewson said governments at all levels also needed to continue work to improve and streamline the approvals process to bring new copper projects online sooner.

“There is currently excessive duplication and regulation that is causing lengthy delays in approving new projects and expanding existing projects which deters investors.”

Mount Isa Mines Infrastructure Mount Isa, Copper Smelter

She said QRC welcomed commitments by the new State Government to streamline the approvals process, including the establishment of the Resources Cabinet Committee.

“Queensland needs to be able to compete with other countries that don’t have the high energy and labour costs that the industry faces.”

This article is part of the FUTURE TOWNSVILLE series, which was supported by S. Kidman, Bravus, Port of Townsville, Aurizon, Queensland Resources Council, Sun Metals, Ark Energy and Urbis.

Originally published as Association of Mining and Exploration Companies says North-West remains “highly prospective” for copper resources