Nickel to be placed on critical minerals list, giving WA miners access to $4 billion fund, page-4

Andrew Forrest-owned nickel miner Wyloo says “courageous, big-thinking policy” is needed to save the industry (copyright link)

Nickel industry leaders are grateful but underwhelmed with the government response so far as they try to compete with rivals in Indonesia, allowed to operate tax-free for up to 20 years.

They are also frustrated that the Federal and WA governments took so long to act, finally spurred into action when BHP confirmed to the market that its nickel operations and thousands of jobs were on the chopping block.

The Albanese government added nickel to its critical minerals list on Friday and the WA government announced a 50 per cent royalty discount over 18 months.

Wyloo chief executive Luca Giacovazzi welcomed the moves but indicated they fell short of the policy vision needed to save a nickel sector being crushed by a supply glut from Chinese-backed producers in Indonesia.

“Now is the time for courageous, big-thinking policy that will create the secured jobs and economic benefit for generations to come,” he said.

“We can be more than a dig-and-ship economy, and we shouldn’t let this once-in-a-generation opportunity pass us by.”

Speaking after crisis meetings with nickel and lithium producers in Perth on January 24, Ms King said she would accelerate talks with Treasury officials about a production tax credit and how it would apply.

Wyloo is scheduled to shut down nickel mines in WA acquired in its $760 million takeover of Mincor Resources in July last year on May 31. A string of other mines have shut down, with about 1600 job losses announced since December and warnings the number could grow to 10,000.

Mr Giacovazzi said it was good to see the WA and governments coming together to support the nickel sector and acknowledge “its critical importance to our economic security”.

“We will continue to collaborate with both levels of government to develop policies that will help rebuild Australia’s nickel sector and incentivise the development of a resilient, value-additive downstream industry,” he said.

Canadian company First Quantum welcomed the royalty relief that will apply to nickel produced at its Ravensthorpe mine in WA.

First Quantum announced in January that it would cease mining but continue to make sales from stockpiles at Raventhorpe under a cost-cutting strategy that involved shedding more than 300 jobs.

The company said the mine continued to employ about 350 people, many from the nearby coastal community of Hopetoun.

“The WA government’s support will now make an important contribution to maintaining workforce skills at both the site and in the WA nickel sector more broadly,” it said.