Glencore Mount Isa Mines closure must spark new investment: Townsville Enterprise

Comparisons with the closure of Queensland Nickel’s Yabulu refinery are not accurate, according to the Townsville Enterprise chief executive, but the next two years will be crucial.

Townsville Enterprise's chief executive Claudia Brumme-Smith urged all governments to break down bureaucracy to ensure the North West's vast mineral deposits were opened up to investment. Picture: Chris Burns

The closure of Mount Isa Mines underground copper operations cannot be compared to the economic impact which happened following the closure of Queensland Nickel, according to Townsville Enterprise chief executive Claudia Brumme-Smith.

She said the Queensland Government needed to use Glencore’s announcement that it would wind down on its copper operations to invest in junior explorers and an untapped $740bn worth of minerals in the North West Minerals Province.

The government needed to make this a priority now and use the time it had to transition the local workforce into other projects.

“While this is sad news for us and we feel for the people affected we need to look forward in a way that working for all governments…to make sure there is a future in the North West,” she said.

“And there is a future.

“We need to acknowledge 60 good years of underground mining copper at Mount Isa Mines but there’s plenty of copper deposits there that we now need to unleash.”

Queensland Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick said there is nothing the Queensland government can do to keep the mine open. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Mrs Brumme-Smith said the Queensland Government needed to develop these resources by examining the challenges that prevent further investment for the region.

The three issues that obstructed investment were high power price, lack of water supply to certain areas of the region, and high supply chain costs.

Closures could impact Townsville through the servicing industry and the Fly In Fly Out workforce, she said.

“We’ve got plenty of notice in a way with two years closure whereas with Queensland Nickel we had no notice,” Mrs Brumme-Smith said during a press conference about the mines’ closure.

“Also for the port, the refinery continues to operate, the smelter continues to operate, so that’s good news from a port’s point of view.

“There may be an opportunity to bring in some metals to keep feeding the refineries here at the smelter.”

For Mayor Jenny Hill, there is a clear path to lessen the economic effects from the closure felt in Townsville.

“The best way to minimise the impacts is for the state government not to add more green tape and make sure any of the projects, particularly vanadium, are fast-tracked to operations,” Cr Hill said.

Mundingburra MP Les Walker said his thoughts are with workers, their families, and the Mount Isa community.

“Glencore has given reassurances that its Townsville Copper Refinery won’t be affected by the closures in Mount Isa and will continue to operate,” he said.

“The copper refinery is a vital piece of industry within Townsville, it is a large employer directly, provides jobs indirectly and is an important facility within the State’s critical minerals industry.”

Townsville deputy mayor Mark Molachino said there could be some impact to the city as a flow-on effect, particularly with housing demand and with businesses catering to the Mount Isa Mines’ copper operations.

“What I have found working in the mining industry itself is people that work in mining stay in mining most of the time,” Cr Molachino said.

“Some of those people will look to move to Townsville and will add to pressures to us here.”

He said this would not be a massive amount of people but that impacted families might find coastal cities such as Townsville and Mackay to be appealing to move to.

Federal and State governments will need to help the Townsville City Council on these issues, he said.

“We need that, we can’t do the heavy lifting ourselves,” Cr Molachino said.

“There might be some servicing industries here that will be impacted if that (copper operations) shuts down, so it’s important that state government works with them as well to make sure there’s opportunities for them.”

However, the refinery remaining open would reduce the impact to Townsville even though more than 1000 jobs would be “devastating” to the Mount Isa community, he said.

Originally published as Glencore Mount Isa Mines closure must spark new investment: Townsville Enterprise