Mount Isa Mines underground copper mine to shut, 1200 jobs up in the air
More than 1000 jobs are in limbo as Glencore announces Mount Isa Mines’ underground copper operations will close in the second half of 2025. WHAT WE KNOW.
Townsville
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More than 1000 jobs are in limbo as Glencore announces Mount Isa Mines’ underground copper operations will close in the second half of 2025.
Glencore made the announcement on Tuesday night, adding its Lady Loretta zinc mine about 140 kilometres northwest of Mount Isa will also close in 2025.
Mount Isa Mines’ other metals assets including the copper smelter, George Fisher Mine, zinc-lead concentrator, lead smelter in Mount Isa, and the copper refinery in Townsville will continue operating.
The state government will pump $50m into Mount Isa to support workers and the regional city amid mining giant Glencore’s decision to shut its underground copper operations.
Treasurer Cameron Dick confirmed the state government had put forward a $50m support package.
It is split into two sections including $30m to accelerate development of resource projects in the northwest minerals province in the next five years.
The other $20m will go toward an “economic structural adjustment package” and will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Glencore— though Mr Dick confirmed the government did not yet have a formal commitment from the mining giant for this.
Mr Dick said Glencore had made it “very clear” there was “nothing the Queensland Government could say or do or pay to continue those mines operating in that community”.
Glencore’s copper and zinc chief operating officer Sam Strohmayr said 1200 people were employed in the Mount Isa underground copper, copper concentrator and supporting services.
“It’s too early to put a figure on how many people may receive redundancies until we work through a process of speaking to each worker and discuss options around retention, redeployment, and retraining,” Mr Strohmayr said.
“Redundancies are the last resort and will be offered only when other options have been exhausted.”
The Enterprise, X41 and Black Rock underground copper operations were closing because the remaining mineral resources were not economically viable, with low ore grades, and “areas where, due to geological conditions, safe extraction can’t be achieved using current technology, this all coupled with ageing infrastructure,” Mr Strohmayr said.
Mining contractors attached to closing Glencore projects say closures are part of the industry, but the news of 1200 jobs set to go could make people leave Queensland.
“It is a bit scary, now with the news people might pick up and head to WA,” one contractor told the Bulletin.
“Hopefully there’s not a mass exodus.”
There were enough major projects in Queensland to keep workers here, but “people get scared and they’ll go for the big money” in Western Australia, he 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.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she understood it was a difficult decision or many workers and their families to accept.
“But we will always do what we can to support workers and their families to find new good, secure jobs,” she said.
“North West Queensland is central to the delivery of critical minerals needed for global decarbonisation and skilled workers like those at Glencore are vital for this new industry that is set to generate thousands of jobs.”
Miners want Glencore to ‘meet them in the middle’
A lifelong Mount Isa resident and long-time worker at Glencore’s underground copper operations said miners knew this day would come but it remained a shock.
“Life goes on, we’re 100 years old. There’s only ever a finite amount of ore… you can’t ask the state government to put more rock in the ground,” he said.
He said Glencore needed to outline a detailed exit strategy so workers knew exactly when they had a job at that mine until, and what the company’s timetable would be for retraining or redeployment.
This way workers would have a firm grip on managing a way forward in their lives, particularly if they owned property in Mount Isa or had a family.
“We just don’t know what’s going to happen because we do turn up and do our job, we just expect them to do the same,” the miner said.
“We just want to meet them in the middle.”
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, as they are still employed with Glencore, two Lady Loretta contractors were confident other projects would pop up.
“That’s contract mining,” one said of the Glencore closure news.
Katters call for Glencore to step aside
Traeger MP Robbie Katter said it was time for Glencore to move aside and allow another operator into the North West Minerals Province if it had no real appetite for long-term planning and development.
“The reality is no one wants Glencore here in the North West – we want an owner who is less interested in playing games and more interested in mining the $750bn worth of untapped critical minerals that exist in the region,” Mr Katter said.
“If our future out here is so tied to the whims of a fickle global commodity trader, then we need to re-assess the operating conditions that we have created and the value our government has placed on mining to our economy.”
Mr Katter said the commercial decision would have an “unfathomable” impact and would hurt 1100 direct jobs, but that this number did not include Fly In Fly Out workers or contractors.
“The main point here is history; you have a global commodity trader in Glencore that in 2020, just before the last State Election, told us their Townsville copper smelter was unviable and had no future, and it has now been expanded to 2030,” Mr Katter said.
“Glencore also told us Ernest Henry Mine had no future, and a new purchaser did the work and chased new investment and added 17 years of new life to that mine.
“Glencore has been telling us globally the future of copper is bright, investing heavily in African and South American copper mines, but have been progressively retreating from their Australian interests.”
Kennedy MP Bob Katter said governments needed to show some “backbone” and move Glencore on immediately, and not allow it to slowly drain the town and North West region over the next two years.
“They’ve had one foot out the door for years, they’re not interested in hanging around and would prefer to be mining copper in the Congo, so get the hell out,” he said.
“It’s about time a government in Australia grew a back bone and threw out these people that are raping our resources for their own wealth and treating us like pawns.
“The government has explain what it is going to do now about maintaining its sovereign capability to produce copper. And make sure the processing plant is sold by law to an Australian company that will remain an Australian asset.”
Mr Katter acknowledged all mines possessed finite resources, but was adamant the future of copper was in strong supply in the North West Minerals Province, and of course, in high demand across Australia.
“Now there is ample copper for Mount Isa to have wonderful prosperity, and a syndicate that is coming together must be backed by the government, and give priority in those jobs to the people that live there – this must be enforced with brutality.”
Resources Minister Scott Stewart is flying to Mount Isa on Wednesday morning.
Union calls out foreign labour, resource groups warn of investment uncertainty
Australian Workers’ Union Queensland secretary Stacey Schinnerl said “This is an incredibly sad day for the entire Mount Isa community.”
“I have been in contact with Treasurer Dick and I have made it clear that our members expect the Government to leave no stone unturned when it comes to providing direct support to the Mount Isa community and affected workers,” Ms Schinnerl said.
“Glencore have been using foreign labour and FIFO labour hire on their other operations in the region. It is our expectation that local workers who are affected by these closures are given priority access to these roles,” she said.
Glencore’s decisions to shut down its underground copper operations in Mount Isa is “unfortunate but understandable” the Queensland Resources Council has said.
QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the Glencore’s decision highlighted the need for new resources investment in Queensland to develop new projects as major mines like this reach their end of life.
“The future success of the resources sector cannot be taken for granted by governments and we need policies that encourage investment in new Queensland resources projects as more mines reach their end of production in coming years,” he said.
“The Queensland Government needs to start listening to the many warnings about the threat to future investment as a result of its snap decision to impose the world’s highest coal royalty tax rates.
“In the current global economic climate, the State Government should be doing all it can to attract investment in new resources projects in Queensland.”
Mount Isa to Townsville Economic Zone’s (MITEZ) Maria James said the decision to close copper operations were motivated by the cost of extracting declining copper grades as well as high power prices.
“This is why we have to push diversification in the North West,” she said.
“We can’t put all our eggs in the one basket.
“We have to think outside the square.”
Phosphate mining and agricultural projects such as cotton had potential in the region but needed the infrastructure to develop it.
She said the decision would flow onto Townsville due to its role in the logistical supply chain, as well as by the locally based Fly In Fly Out workers that worked for Glencore.
“Mount Isa is resilient but that’s not going to make anyone losing their job feel better,” Ms James said.
End of mine won’t be ‘death warrant’ for city
Mount Isa Chamber of Commerce president Emma Harman said the city will “live on” despite Glencore’s commercial decision, and the first priority was supporting workers to transition.
She said it was unclear yet how this transition would happen, but that meetings with Glencore representatives suggested directly impacted jobs might require retraining and redeployment to other areas such as George Fisher.
Ms Harman understood redundancies would be the final option.
“It’s too early to say how many people and jobs will be lost,” Ms Harman said, but understood there would be a reduced amount of Glencore employees based in Mount Isa within the next decade.
“But I think the jobs will come back as junior miners open up,” Ms Harman said.
“While it may be a blow for (the) town immediately, I do not believe that they have signed the death warrant for this great city,” she said.
“The Glencore owned led zinc assets at George Fisher have at least another decade left in them.”
Ms Harman said North West Phosphate was just about to open its nearby mine.
“As the global demand for copper continues to grow exponentially and the region’s critical minerals are discovered and mined, this town will live on,” she said.
“Mount Isa is strong and we will remain strong.”
Mount Isa councillor Kim Coghlan was disappointed all of the councillors were not told of the closure beforehand, and says full council would be briefed at 10.30am Wednesday.
“I‘ve been getting phone calls, people are worried of course, people get scared when announcements like this are made,” Cr Coghlan said.
“It’s not doom and gloom, it’s a two-year management plan. Sam Strohmayr said redundancies are the last resort, they need to stick to that.”
Townsville Enterprise chief executive Claudia Brumme-Smith said now was a crucial time to transition skilled workers and the Northwest communities “ into the economies of the future”.
“ … we now have two years to fast track and unlock critical minerals and renewables in the region,” she said.
“There is upwards of $740bn of known and untapped critical minerals across the North west and this region is also recognised to have access to the nations best wind and solar resources,” Ms Brumme-Smith said.
The cyclical nature of mining was why CopperString was advocated for; to secure the future of the Northwest through affordable green power, unlocking new mining opportunities, and improving global competitiveness in refining and processing, she said.
Mine had received millions from state to stay open
In 2020 the state government made an undisclosed multimillion-dollar payment to Glencore aimed at securing its copper operations in Mount Isa and Townsville for a further three years, as part of a regional Covid-19 recovery plan.
“I’m not going to stand by and let people lose their jobs,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in Townsville at the time.
“We are going to back Glencore. We are going to back the people in Townsville and Mount Isa,” the Premier said.
Former Mount Isa Mayor Tony McGrady said the state government and Glencore were negotiating behind closed doors in the city today.
He hoped something could be salvaged from Glencore’s decision considering that operations were important to the government through job numbers and royalties.
“It’s a commercial decision taken by the company but at the end of the day we have a community here of thousands of people,” Mr McGrady said.
“The industry creates many, many jobs and creates the wealth of the North West.
“Let’s see what can be resurrected from this decision.”
Townsville mayor Jenny Hill said the fact the Townsville smelter was kept open showed Glencore was confident it could get product through the facility and keep it economically viable.
“That’s why we’re very keen in Townsville to grow critical minerals,” Cr Hill said.
There would be economic effects from the closure felt in Townsville though, she said.
“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.”
Shadow federal Resources Minister and Townsville-based Senator Susan McDonald said Mount Isa played a vital role as a hub for Northwest Queensland commerce, healthcare and schooling.
“ … I am deeply concerned about the effect this announcement will have on Mount Isa Mines’ workers and the town’s business owners,” she said.
More to come.
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Originally published as Mount Isa Mines underground copper mine to shut, 1200 jobs up in the air
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