The Mt. Isa Copper Smelter will be closing down in coming years unless there is government assistance in it's refurbishment to keep it operational .
It's about time the Australian Government spent our money on our critical infrastructure instead of throwing billions at overseas economies for everything like bloody climate change initiatives and the like. The Mt. Isa Smelter is a critical piece of Australian infrastructure and one of only 2 copper smelters in the country currently smelting copper for the east coast of Australia including the mineral rich north west mineral province in the region .
If we don't do this we will end up having to send concentrate offshore to the likes of China to have it done and then have to buy it back in it's refined form at whatever cost they see fit in the near and distant future.
We have to stop being the stupid country and start investing in our own country's critical sovereign infrastructure projects . Copper is in increasing demand world wide and we have plenty of it . To loose this would be another national disgrace !
