Miners call for urgent government intervention to save copper industry

With emerging North West mines needing time to scale up operations, mining leaders are calling for a government intervention to save the copper industry. See the latest doco episode.

Major mining companies have called for urgent government intervention to preserve Australia’s copper processing facilities to unlock future wealth for Northern Queensland.

The distress call comes after Swiss mining giant Glencore warned that its Mount Isa copper smelter and Townsville refinery were at risk of closure by the end of the year, as it prepares to shut down its Mount Isa Mines underground copper operation in July.

In the second episode of Townsville Enterprise’s five-part documentary series “Keep Our Copper”, Townsville Enterprise chief executive Claudia Brumme-Smith spoke with leaders in the copper industry about the precarious situation, where 17,000 jobs hung in the balance.

Evolution Mining’s Ernest Henry mine represents one of the largest copper reserves in the world, producing 47,000- 53,000 tonnes per year, while supporting 650 jobs.

Ernest Henry Operations general manager Jason Floyd said there was a lot of potential in the district, and they were still continuing to explore, with the goal of extending the mine’s life beyond 2040.

“We’ve got the essentials, we’ve got a lot of the infrastructure in place to support further operations and we’ve got the know-how, just having that critical mass in Mount Isa,” Mr Floyd said.

“With the smelter in operation, there’s a lot of technical know-how, a lot of technical support that gets lent to the mines in the area that’s based out of Mount Isa.”

Harmony Gold (Eva Copper Mine) chief development officer Johannes Van Heerden said they also had a “very sizable exploration package”.

Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith with Harmony Gold chief development officer Johannes Van Heerden. Picture: Supplied.

“Based on our initial estimates of 55,000 to 60,000 tons of copper produced from this project, we estimate that that would be between 25 and 35 per cent of the feed into the smelter.

“Electrification and decarbonisation, is a key aspect of what humanity’s trying to achieve, and therefore we do need to mine more copper to achieve those outcomes,” Mr Van Heerden said.

Ms Brumme-Smith warned that we were “five minutes to midnight” for keeping the north’s copper supply chain intact.

Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith in Mount Isa as part of a five part docu-series “Keep Our Copper”. Picture: Supplied.

“Copper is absolutely king. In the 21st Century Arms Race, (of the) four critical minerals, copper is the most important,” Ms Brumme-Smith said.

“Emerging copper mines across the North West can power and sustain those processing assets, but they need time to scale. Without immediate intervention, we risk losing more than infrastructure, we risk losing a generational opportunity.”

For more information, visit: www.keepourcopper.com.au.

Keep our Copper docuseries

• Episode 1: Why the Smelter Matters: The cornerstone of Australia’s copper supply chain

• Episode 2: Unearthed Potential: Mining the Demand Boom

• Episode 3: Townsville’s Refinery Reckoning: will we take our copper to the world?

• Episode 4: From Surviving to Thriving: the game changers to fuel our region’s copper revival

• Episode 5: The Chain Reaction: Why Farmers are fearing the Smelter closure

Originally published as Miners call for urgent government intervention to save copper industry