A future for Mount Isa copper touted with Premier’s backing

Recent comments by Premier David Crisafulli have buoyed prospects for Mount Isa Copper Operations (MICO). That comes from Member for Traeger Robbie Katter who said the market should decide the future of MICO. Glencore has announced plans to close MICO which includes underground mines and concentrator in the first quarter of 2026 due to declining ore grades. It estimated 1200 jobs would go with the closure. Copper operations have traditionally drawn their staff from Mount Isa rather than FiFo. Member for Traeger Robbie Katter Premier Crisafulli recently said he believed there was still (economic) potential within the closing copper mines and hoped discussions with other miners could yield results that could protect the outback mining town’s main livelihood. Related: Glencore hits back at Katter’s Mount Isa Mines Bill Mr Katter said MICO needed to be presented to the market to properly assess its viability. “And particularly when we know that there're other operators out there that are very keen to either buy that asset or work in with the current lease holders to ensure that those underground operations continue. “It's a pretty common practice in the mining world where one mine, just an operator of a mine, their viability of their life exhausts in the way that they operate it. “In this case, I think it's the type of operations and operator that it requires now is not Glencore. It needs a different type of operator and we need to go to market. “Having that comment from the premier that has also signals his intention to see those jobs remain and that operation keep going is very, very welcome and for people that live in this region out here, vital to have that sort of commentary given.” The MICO commercial profile could work for another operator. “Glencore has six major copper mines that I'm aware of around the world. And many of those bigger than Mount Isa, it's not a big deal for them. “So when the cost structures, which are often different when they exceed the profit margin that they can tolerate, then they're going to make a decision. “There're other miners that are hungrier, more agile and more aggressive in the way that they'll take on a resource. “Glencore is a global commodity trader who happened to inadvertently be a miner on the side, they're not into developing mines and they're more focused on that trade as far as I can tell. So that's probably not the right owner for this mine at this time.” Mr Katter cited the case of Glencore’s 2022 sale of the Ernest Henry mine to Evolution Mining. He said Evolution was constantly re-evaluating copper-gold reserves upwards on the mining lease north of Cloncurry. You may also like: https://industryqld.com.au/premier-floats-hopes-for-new-copper-chapter-in-mount-isa/

A future for Mount Isa copper touted with Premier’s backing

Industry Queensland

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