A snapshot of Mount Isa’s mining future

Partner editorial - An autumn mining conference in Mount Isa promises to snapshot the region’s future. Juniors and majors are combining to highlight their prospects at the Minerals Province Exhibition and Conference (MPX) running over May 7-9. Main image: Mount Glorious main pit - Renegade Exploration The speaker list is a who’s who of miners taking on challenges to develop the Isa Carpentaria Minerals Province, claimed to be the world’s second largest base metals region. Its reputation has expanded to include prospective rare earth elements and critical minerals deposits. Related: The NorthWest Minerals Province Expo and Conference starts now Those stocks have risen with their contribution to renewable energy systems and the progress towards the new net-zero economy. The latest to sign up to MPX comes from the biggest phosphate producer in the country, Incitec Pivot (IPL). Decision-makers from established miners Commerce North West president Emma Harman said IPL made a big commitment to MPX. Incitec Pivot VP operations Peter Ware. “We have two senior managers with IPL presenting at MPX this year,” Ms Harman said. “They are fertilisers vice president operations Peter Ware and Elliott York, fertilisers program manager, northern Australian operations strategic projects. “Mr Ware is responsible for overseeing all IPF (Incitec Pivot Fertilisers) manufacturing and distribution operations in Australia. “He brings to the role extensive technical and managerial expertise, along with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.” Collaboration key Mr Ware’s presentation comes under the title, ‘Why collaboration is the key in the North West: A Phosphate Hill perspective’. Coming from another perspective, Mr York has held various leadership and operational roles with IPL Fertilisers over 15 years. Related: Click here to register for the 2024 NorthWest MPX Working across several facilities, including the Mount Isa sulphuric acid plant and Phosphate Hill plant operations, he has held a variety of maintenance, engineering, and capital project roles. Copper close to the Isa On another level, Mount Isa Minerals is an emerging player that has taken a leadership role in developing the Mount Isa project. This consists of eight granted exploration permits covering 326sq km of highly prospective copper mineralisation near the city. This places the project close to the MIM smelter, which will be increasingly looking for feedstock as the MIM underground copper operations are decommissioned. Chair David Williams said the company would be represented at MPX on the speaker’s podium. Graphite invites joint venture Renegade Exploration got more than it bargained for with a graphite discovery last year. Graphite is most commonly used as the anode material in batteries. The mineral has its name on a bullet with the predicted upsurge in battery take-up for use in electric vehicles. Graphite is listed as a restricted item on China’s exports. The prospects lie within EPM 12561, part of the Carpentaria Joint Venture (CJV) between Glencore and Renegade, whose stake is currently 23.03 per cent. It’s part of a raft of copper/gold prospects Renegade has south of Cloncurry.

A snapshot of Mount Isa’s mining future

Industry Queensland

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