General News
16 July, 2025
State hoping feds come up with smelter package
Dale Last says he is working with his Canberra colleagues to ensure Glencore doesn't close the asset.
Queensland's Minister for Natural Resources and Mines says he hopes the Albanese government will back Mount Isa with a rescue package for the copper smelter.
Speaking in Townsville, Dale Last said he was working with his Canberra colleagues to ensure that Glencore did not close the asset.
“We had a meeting this week, the Premier and I, with Glencore. I have a follow-up meeting next week with Glencore to work out a proposal going forward,” he said.
“The federal government has provided a rescue package for a number of other smelters around Australia. It is my hope that they will continue to engage in good faith and, moving forward, that we can put in place a rescue package for the copper smelter at Mount Isa.
“(It) gives me hope that we’ll be able to secure a similar deal for Mount Isa going forward.
“It is crucial, absolutely crucial, for the North West Minerals Province and for Queensland’s future in the resource sector.”
On the same day, deputy Labor leader Cameron Dick took a shot at the LNP government for not doing more to secure Mount Isa’s future.
“David Crisafulli and Dale Last need to put the pedal to the metal and the metal is copper,” he said, claiming 17,000 jobs were on the line.
Mr Last pulled no punches in his response.
“Where were the opposition when they were in government? We’ve gone back through the diaries of former Premier Palaszczuk and Shadow Minister Dick, and they didn’t have one meeting with Glencore regarding the closure of the copper smelter and the copper mine at Mount Isa. Not one,” the Minister said.
“The audacity to now turn up and demand action from this government and somehow make us believe that they are all of a sudden concerned about the future of Mount Isa is beyond belief.
“We’re working very, very hard with Glencore, we’re working very, very hard in collaboration with the federal government to put in place a package that will enable that smelter to keep operating.”