Happy to be corrected on this, but from what I read, the SA government were providing $300M - ish to support creditors and Administrator whereas the Federal Government was offering $500M for the new owner to convert to electric arc furnace / green steel production. And the last time I checked, the Federal Government covered an area that included both South Australia and New South Wales
Now, if I was a potential investor in Whyalla Steel Works (including the government providing $500M) and converting to an electric arc furnace, one of the first things I would be looking at before investing in the steel works, is ensuring that I had a good supply of high grade magnetite, possibly from more than one source to diversify risk. I'm not sure if GFG's mining interests in the Middleback Ranges will be caught up in the Administration of the steel works of not. If GFG still owns the mines, I would expect GFG to be asking a nice price and therefore a purchaser may look at other options.
Given there is a federal election coming up, it could be that they want to look after seats in both SA and NSW and support magnetite projects in both states. Therefore, I would not rule out Federal assistance for Hawsons or NSW State government assistance. However, in reality, I think Hawsons is still some months away from being "investor ready" and therefore government support is not something I see happening in the next few months - but down the track, definitely a possibility.
The best thing the Federal Government could do before calling an election and going into caretaker mode is to follow the Canadian Government's lead and add High Purity Iron (which includes high grade low impurity magnetite) to the Critical Minerals list - that would probably be the first step to opening up the door for better access to government funding for magnetite projects in NSW, SA and WA.
