Mt Isa’s city of dreams still alive as green future beckons
Resources giant Glencore may be winding down its huge Mt Isa mines after more than 60 years but the former boss of the operations says the best days of the city could still lie ahead.
The huge Mt Isa mines have been an economic lifeline for Queensland’s vast north-west ever since propsector John Campbell Miles stumbled upon one of the world’s richest deposits of copper, silver and zinc in 1923. News last year that mining giant Glencore will wind down operations over the next few years has many concerned the city’s future is uncertain.
But the former boss of the huge copper and nickel operations says the city’s best days could still lie ahead. Matt O’Neill, who started as a trades assistant at the mines more than two decades ago before rising to become managing director, has joined forces with power tsar Joseph O’Brien in a new investment venture focused on northern Australia, including Mt Isa and the resource-rich North West Mineral Province. Mr O’Brien and his father John are the founders of the $5bn Copper String transmission line linking Mt Isa with the national grid that is now being delivered by the Queensland government.
Copper String will supply competitively priced power to the North West Mineral Province, which is estimated to have $680bn worth of “new economy” resources such as copper, cobalt, gold and graphite crucial for the manufacture of batteries and clean energy projects, as well as rare earth elements such as molybdenum, rhenium and holmium.
“I benefited from growing up in Mt Isa and I want to make sure that we don’t take for granted what we have there,” said Mr O’Neill, who left Glencore earlier this year and stresses the company has an excellent track record in running the mines.
“Looking to the future, it’s how you invest in the infrastructure transition to make sure Queensland and Australia make the most of what we have in the region. How do we get smarter at extracting and processing the resources? There’s still a lot of metal left, and I think that that’s one of the key drivers.“
The mines, which have supported the city of more than 22,000 people for decades, will shut down in the second half of 2025 after efforts to further extend their productive lives were unsuccessful, Swiss-owned Glencore said in October.
Glencore’s Lady Loretta zinc mine, located 140 kilometres northwest of Mount Isa, will also close in 2025. The closure of the aging mines, which have operated six years beyond their original expected life, underscores the need for the city to move beyond being a one company town. The Queensland Government has announced a $50m support package for workers impacted by the closure. The city, founded in 1923 when Miles stumbled upon one of the world’s richest deposits of copper, silver and zinc, is in the middle of the North West Minerals Province. Mr O’Neill said the importance of the city to the northwest and the broader Australian economy could not be understated.
Mr O’Neill, a father of four, completed most of his schooling in Mt Isa before heading off to boarding school and graduating from the University of Queensland with a mechanical engineering degree. All four of his children were born in the local hospital and he was an active member of the local rugby union, cricket, tennis and triathlon clubs.
Mr O’Neill said the industrial assets of north Queensland – Mt Isa has two metal concentrators and two smelters, while Townsville has a major copper refinery – should continue to be put to good use.
“You put them all together and operate them as one, as MIM (Mount Isa Mines) was originally created to do, and there is great potential,” he said. “But there is a danger that if you pull out the cornerstone everything in the region starts to crumble.”
Mr O’Brien, who grew up in Townsville, said there was a huge opportunity to develop northern Australia, stretching from the Northern Territory to Townsville and Gladstone, as an industrial and resource heartland.
He said this not only served the economy but a strategic defence purpose, given the growing regional uncertainties in the Asia-Pacific.
“At the macro level, there’s this enormous opportunity for critical minerals and clean energy,” said Mr O’Brien. “We see those two things as fairly inextricably linked. Defence is also going to become more of an important consideration in strategy.”
Mr O’Brien started working in the Queensland electricity industry with his father, a long-time employee of the Queensland Electricity Commission, before venturing into business.
In 2007, the father and son team established their flagship firm Vis IR to undertake private equity investment and project development, including the $5bn Copper String transmission line that was sold to the Queensland government earlier this year.
The new partnership with Mr O’Neill will continue to work under Vis IR.
“Australia, and particularly northern Australia, has this wonderful opportunity in front of us from a minerals and industrial development point of view,” he said.
Originally published as Mt Isa’s city of dreams still alive as green future beckons
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