Mount Isa is on an upswing, according to Mayor Peta MacRae.

The city had come through one of the toughest challenges in its century-plus life, she said recalling a series of events that cast a pall over Mount Isa more than 12 months earlier.

It followed a decision by Mount Isa Mines owner Glencore to shut its two underground copper mines, citing declining grades. The concentrator was closed by default, and the move threw doubt over the future of the copper smelter.

An estimated 1200 jobs were affected. These were accounted for in redundancy and reassignment to the lead-zinc side of the business, principally George Fisher Mine.

Main image: Mount Isa – courtesy Chris Grose/Mount Isa City Council

The State and Federal Governments then stitched together a $600 million rescue package late last year to keep the smelter furnaces burning.

At the same time, vacancies were created at new mines. Cr MacRae said Harmony’s Eva copper project alone accounted for a couple of hundred positions.

“I think with the rodeo being in administration, underground copper mine closure, there was a lot of doom and gloom and I guess apprehension in the room, but it was complete turnaround, lots of positivity this year,” Cr MacRae said.

“We’re really waiting for the next census data to come out, … Obviously there’re heaps of jobs and things are ramping up in the region, but from my perspective, it’s really important for us to know how many of those are community members and how many are flying in and flying out.

“Because obviously from a council perspective, we’re about uplifting the community and improving liveability.”

There was now more confidence in the region, Cr MacRae said.

“Look, I think we’re already hitting some KPIs. I think if you get around Mount Isa now and measure the positivity in the community and just look at the general vibe, the amenity of the place, I think we’re in a lot better place than what we were last year.

“I think we’ve developed a great team at council. We’ve got great directors and they’re kicking goals.

“There are going to have to be new businesses spark up because the potential in relation to critical minerals, … So in terms of our ROC, the 11 councils that make up Northwest ROC, all of those critical minerals projects are in our area.

“So we’ve got such a great future and we just have to take advantage of it.”

A recent Meeting of the Mines conference in Cloncurry pointed to expansion at three operations in the area — Harmony’s Eva mine, Evolution Mining’s (ASX: EVN) Ernest Henry Mine and Austral Resources’ (ASX: AR1) Rocklands project.