Copper closure impacts to hit hard and reach far

The ripple effect of Glencore's Mount Isa copper closures will rock Townsville and Brisbane as well as threatening to downsize the mining city and the services it provides the wider region, an economic policy expert warns. DeltaPearl Partners managing director Craig Wilson believes this is a national issue and the Australian Government needs to come to the party. Glencore yesterday announced plans to close its Mount Isa Mines underground copper operations and copper concentrator in the second half of 2025, when the Lady Loretta zinc mine is also reaching the end of its life. The George Fisher mine and Glencore's Mount Isa zinc-lead concentrator and lead smelter will continue operations, as will the Mount Isa copper smelter and Townsville-based refinery. With a population of just over 20,000, the loss of 1200 copper operations jobs would 'smash' that city, Mr Wilson said. The economic loss may well be greater in Townsville due to the services it provided for Mount Isa operations, including through the port, he said. However, he stressed that Townsville had the ability to absorb the shock better given its size and current economic health, with low unemployment rates and rising property values. "Townsville will hurt from this. The good news is, if this had happened, say, two years ago before Bravus, it would've really hurt. Townsville's having a new dawn at the moment," Mr Wilson said. DeltaPearl Partners managing director Craig Wilson. With many corporate services based in Brisbane, Mr Wilson said the state's capital would not go unscathed as Glencore pruned its Mount Isa operations. Mr Wilson said this day had been a while coming in terms of the underground copper mines running their course - but it was still a shock to the system. And while Glencore had done some sabre rattling in the past to win government funding support for its Mount Isa copper business, he said this closure announcement looked 'quite final and fair dinkum'. "This isn't a sabre-rattling thing, they've just made a decision. They've been digging up stuff and there's nothing in it. And they've said, right, now's the time," he said. With a two-year lead period until the copper concentrator and underground copper mines closed, and the smelter and refinery expected to operate out to 2030, Mr Wilson said Glencore had allowed a decent period of notice. "It looks like Glencore is going to do its best to work with stakeholders, community, government etc, to do a sensible runway," he said. "And all the global literature on this stuff tells you that that's the best way to do it. The global literature also tells you that it's going to be bigger and harder and more painful than you think. "And then the big policy questions are 'what does this mean for the 20,000 people there (in Mount Isa) and do they need to 'right size' the town'." Mr Wilson said the skilled workers involved should not find it difficult to gain jobs elsewhere, but if this was outside the region for many then the impact of the 'demographic drain' could be huge. Local outlets of businesses such as Kmart and KFC would have metrics such that they would close if the population dropped below a certain threshold, for example. Importantly, Mr Wilson said Mount Isa and the key services it hosted such as health facilities was a social safety net for a huge part of the country stretching right up to the Gulf. "It's small potatoes (size-wise), it's 20,000 people. But the people around, passing through, they're relying on it; it's super critical and now's come a time of reckoning." Mr Wilson said the number of jobs involved in the copper cut could also be a big deal for a centre of Mount Isa's size when it came to property values. "So confidence is important and smoothing that pace of change," he said. Mr Wilson said the State Government support package announced by Treasurer Cameron Dick yesterday was very welcome but probably needed to be scaled up many fold. The State's support package includes up to $30 million to accelerate development of resource projects in the North West Minerals Province in the next five years. The government is also offering up to $20 million for an economic structural adjustment package for the region, and calling on Glencore to match that funding dollar-for-dollar.

Copper closure impacts to hit hard and reach far

Industry Queensland

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