Will Mt Lyell finally re-open under new ownership if one can be found?

A historic copper mine in Tasmania, and the scene of a disaster in 1912 and three miner deaths in 2013-2014 has been put on the market, with a global search for a new owner underway.

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THE Indian owners of Queenstown’s historic Mt Lyell copper mine have put the mothballed operation on the market.

The move comes six years after the mine went onto care and maintenance – with the loss of 300 jobs – following the death of three miners.

It is also now three years since Vedanta received a $9.5 million package from the Tasmanian Government as a leg up to rehabilitating the decline and getting the mine back into production.

Vedanta has appointed global investment bank Macquarie Capital to manage the sale process and secure a new owner “to take Mt Lyell forward.”

The Mercury Newspaper's front pages from the biggest stories of the decade between 2010-2019. 2013 December 10: Two miners fall to their death in the Mt Lyell Lyell Copper mine in Queenstown when the wooden platform on which they were working collapsed. Two weeks later another miner is killed and the mine is shut down and put on care an maintenance.

Vedanta claimed Copper Mines of Tasmania, a subsidiary of the parent company, had been preparing to recommence operations at Mt Lyell in February.

But it said those plans had been put on hold due “to worldwide COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.”

A contractor had been engaged to bring the main decline back to production standard and

Vedanta had spent about $100 million on work to bring the mine back to production standard following a rock fall.

Vedanta operated Mt Lyell for 15 years until early 2014 when three miners died in two separate incidents.

In December 2013, Alistair Lucas and Craig Gleeson fell to their deaths off a wooden platform inside the mine.

A few weeks later Michael Welsh was killed in a mud slide.

Mine Tour

CMT was fined $225,000 in relation to the death of two miners and the inquest into the death of Michael Welsh in a mud rush a few weeks later is yet to be finalised.

The inquest into Mr Lucas’s and Mr Gleeson’s deaths heard the mine had not generated any income since it shut down but CMT had spent $85 million paying redundancies and keeping the mine on care and maintenance.

“The practical reality is CMT survives on the benevolence and loans from its parent company Vedanta,” the inquest heard.

CMT’s acting general manager Clint Mayes said on Monday that Vedanta had provided tremendous support and investment to prepare for a restart of the operation.

“Vedanta’s decision to divest Mt Lyell is consistent with its strategy and enables the near-term restart of Mt Lyell under a new operator,” Mr Mayes said.

“Vedanta’s work has placed the mine in a strong position for the new owner to quickly

recommence operations, which will be a great outcome for the mine and for the West

Coast community.

“Vedanta also wants to place on record its appreciation of the strong support the Tasmanian Government has provided to keep the mine ready for a restart.”

Macquarie is seeking expressions of interest from potential buyers this month with the aim

of securing a sales agreement by the end of the year.

All entitlements of the 24 people currently employed at the mine will be safeguarded in the

transaction.