A game of cat and mouse is being played between the state and Swiss multinational Glencore in an outback town facing the closure of its historic copper mine.
What's next?It is a compass point, towering over the suburbs below as it pumps exhaust fumes from the copper smelter.
But with the mine's closure imminent and other potential copper projects at least several years from beginning production, a tussle is brewing to keep the smelter operational and the town alive."I do not think that people right across the breadth of the state understand this but there are about 2,500 to 3,000 jobs across the whole region that are tied up with that smelter," he said.
But Glencore said the ore beyond that depth was "not economically viable", and the mine had reached the end of its life. The bill would result in the Mount Isa Mines Act being changed so that Glencore could not stop mining without ministerial approval, and that the approval could not be given unless the lease was opened up to third party tenders.
The project would become the largest copper mine in the region — generating about 800 jobs during construction and 400 jobs when operational.
Critical Minerals Glencore Mount Isa Mines Closure Commodity Market News Katter Australia Party Robbie Katter Harmony Gold Ernest Henry Mine Copper Mining Queensland Copper Mine Closure
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