Government ‘must protect’ North Queensland’s copper industry: Experts

China is “choking” any competition in copper production – threatening the existence of Australian smelters and raising the alarm about national security. And there’s only one solution.

Dr John Coyne at the Mining and Resources Forum at The Ville. Picture: Evan Morgan

China is “choking” any competition in copper production – threatening the existence of Australian smelters and raising the alarm about national security.

Immediate government intervention is the only way to prevent not just the demolition of the copper industry but the North West’s entire economy, the Townsville Enterprise Mining and Critical Minerals Forum heard yesterday.

“China has been working for decades to establish dominance of the critical minerals and rare earths market especially, in more recent years, the refining and processing of these minerals including copper,” Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith said yesterday.

“The US President Donald Trump has read the room too, moving to issue an executive order to prioritise securing sovereign supplies of critical minerals, including order federal agencies to expedite resource projects wherever possible and issue generous public financial support for mineral production.

“More locally, our leaders must do the same. Brisbane and Canberra must protect our copper industry, and they have a once in a generation opportunity to do so right now.

Dr John Coyne with Townsville Enterprise CEO Claudia Brumme-Smith and Mt Isa Mayor Peta MacRae at the Mining and Resources Forum at The Ville. Picture: Evan Morgan

“We are at a unique junction in the international trade of copper, with demand skyrocketing, supply low and smelting and refining capacity high thanks to the behaviours of the likes of China.”

China has increased its smelting capacity by 25 per cent since 2021 and now controls a whopping 53 per cent of worldwide capacity.

Smelting capacity is at an alltime high and supplies of copper concentrate so low that the value of smelting has plunged into negative territory in recent months, leading to Glencore saying it will close the Mount Isa smelter and Townsville Refinery in a matter of months.

The Townsville Bulletin has launched its S.O.S. – Save our Smelter and Refinery – campaign to shine a light on the impending crisis unfolding in our region.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute national security director Dr John Coyne said the potential loss of 17,000 direct and indirect jobs around the region would have far reaching impacts.

“Copper is integral to the energy transition, it is integral to manufacturing all manner of things as it stands at the moment, if we close all these we have to buy all of our copper from, say, the Chinese and that leaves a structural vulnerability.

“It allows China to set the price of how much copper costs, which directly impacts us, if we were to upset China … that means that they can control the flow of copper to us.”

Dr John Coyne at the Mining and Resources Forum at The Ville. Picture: Evan Morgan

Dr Coyne pointed to the previous trade restrictions China had applied as a result of diplomatic tension with Australia.

“You might say, ‘well, they would never do that’ but that’s exactly what they did for barley, exactly what they did for lobsters, exactly what they did for wine,” he said.

State Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dale Last, was unable to attend the forum, but told the Townsville Bulletin that the “future of the Mount Isa Copper Smelter is one of the most important issues on my desk”.

“The Crisafulli Government is doing all we can to secure the continued operation of the Mount Isa copper smelter, and we’re working closely with Glencore on a path forward,” he said.

“As part of our negotiations, the Crisafulli Government has secured a commitment from Glencore to allow third-party access to copper tailings at the Mount Isa Mines site.

Copper anodes from the Mount Isa smelter, on their way to being further refined at the Townsville Copper Refinery. Picture: Stewart Mclean sm361078

“Glencore has also committed to progressing its Black Star Open Cut project.”

Mount Isa Mayor Peta MacRae said she was a hopeful a solution would be swift.

“I don’t think either the Premier or the Prime Minister have the appetite to see the whole economy of the North Queensland crash, and that’s what will actually happen if our smelter ends up closing.

“Plus it’ll be a sovereign risk, because we’ll no longer have processing capability in our state.”

Dr Coyne said it was important we did not “jump the gun” in deciding what a bailout should look like.

“People are jumping straight to well we should buy a share … What we need to look at and say, is what are all of the different policy levers, the different things that state, local, federal government can do, what are the different measures?

“So subsidies might be one. In China they give subsidised electricity tax credits … but we’ve got to look at what policy measures people are sort of defaulting with the only way is cash and that might be the case, but as far as I know, there’s no clear analysis that turns around and says, these are all of our options.”

Originally published as Government ‘must protect’ North Queensland’s copper industry: Experts