General News
25 September, 2024
Copper smelter a top priority, say Mount Isa's elected leaders
Robbie Katter and Peta MacRae say the smelter is an important asset for the North West.
Robbie Katter says Mount Isa should begin a “serious discussion” around the viability of constructing a second copper smelter as uncertainty lingers around the future of the Glencore asset.
With a range of major existing and proposed resource projects reliant on the processing facility, there have also been calls from Mount Isa mayor Peta MacRae for Glencore to be more transparent about its future plans for the smelter.
Mount Isa City Council has included a discussion about the uncertainty of the smelter in its recently released economic diversification strategy.
“It is being flagged the smelter could face closure in 2030 and if that was to happen it could topple the economy of the entire north Queensland,” she told North West Weekly.
“There is an argument for constructing a common user smelter and I think it is worth exploring what is commercially viable.
“But Glencore entering into offset agreements with junior miners in the region would suggest that the company plans to keep the smelter operational.
“But we don’t know what we don’t know so we would certainly welcome more information about their plans.”
In public statements earlier this month, Glencore zinc assets chief operating officer Sam Strohmayer said the company was prepared to discuss the future of the smelter beyond the proposed 2030 closure.
Mr Katter said he planned to discuss the future of copper processing capabilities, including construction of a common-user smelter, with a new state government if he is re-elected.
“Everything in the region relies on that smelter – at the moment we have an owner at Mount Isa Mines that plays games with the future of copper mining in the region and also has a monopoly on processing,” the Traeger MP said.
“I have been advised there is a business case for the construction of a second copper smelter but it would need to first be driven as a concept by government. There is a lot of short and medium planning going on at the moment – but we can’t have a conversation about the future of the region without including talk about the smelter.”
Mr Katter said he believed the construction of the long-discussed “super pit” at Mount Isa Mines was “inevitable” which would include the likely removal of the existing smelter.
A Glencore spokesperson said the economics of metals smelting and refining “are very different to those of metals mining and we assess these on an ongoing basis”.