Business
26 February, 2025
Life still left in Mount Isa copper smelter, Glencore confirms
The mining giant is in talks with the Queensland government about extending the life of the valuable asset.
Glencore says it is working with the Crisafulli government to secure the future of the Mount Isa Mines copper smelter.
Chief executive officer Gary Nagle gave the clearest indication yet that the smelter could continue beyond the current 2030 scheduled closure.
Speaking to national media last week, Mr Nagle said the LNP government was offering its assistance to keep the smelter operating.
“They (LNP government) are aware of these challenges and are looking for ways to assist us in ensuring we can keep that smelter running longer term and hopefully be able to invest in a re-brick if the operating and cost conditions are right,” he said.
As a lynchpin piece of infrastructure for the North West resource sector, the future of the MIM smelter is considered a pivotal issue to the region’s future that was also identified as a threat to future project rollout under Mount Isa City Council’s economic diversification plans released last week.
The smelter currently treats more than one million tonnes per annum of copper concentrate, which includes accepting ongoing contracts from surrounding operations in the region.
Looming projects, such as the proposed Harmony Gold Eva Copper project at Cloncurry is also expected to use the smelter and could offer significant new throughput once its mine is operational.
Any potential closure of the smelter would cause significant disruptions to the supply of sulphuric acid at a time when demand for the smelter by-product is also expected to surge as a host of new projects, which are reliant on the acid, are scheduled to become operational across the North West over the coming decade.
With more than half of the state’s total supply of sulphuric acid coming from Mount Isa Mines, there is expected to be significant international competition for the acid as countries boost both food production and critical mineral extraction.
Speaking at a media briefing in Mount Isa last week, Glencore officials warned that overseas competitors were already receiving significant financial assistance from governments to maintain smelting operations amid falling treatment charges and declining profit margins.
There has also been a spate of new smelters under construction in countries such as China, India, Indonesia and parts of Africa as nations attempt to provide security over their domestic copper demand.