Corporate giants Glencore and Wesfarmers are big beneficiaries of a $330 million funding initiative by the Albanese Government for clean energy projects.
Adrian Rauso
Chalice Mining has reworked the grade and size of its flagship nickel-copper-platinum elements deposit in Toodyay, a move tipped to make the mine more resilient to weak commodity prices and bring costs down.
Simone Grogan
Chalice Mining’s Toodyay green metals mine will be put through a full-blown assessment by the State’s Environmental Protection Authority following a deluge of public pushback.
WA’s environmental adjudicator has been bombarded with hundreds of submissions demanding high-level scrutiny of Chalice Mining’s proposed nickel-copper-platinum elements mine north of Perth.
BHP says a decision on the fate of its WA nickel assets is still a few months away as it continues to assess their longer-term viability amid a market beaten down by a flood of cheap supply from Indonesia.
Daniel Newell and Adrian Rauso
US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy has taken a veiled swipe at the state-owned Chinese mining companies in Indonesia squeezing WA nickel producers out of the market.
The number of external administrations is now at a record high, with mining among the sectors posting a huge increase in business failures amid a nickel price bloodbath.
Cheyanne Enciso
WorkSafe says asbestos levels at BHP Nickel West’s Mt Keith nickel operation do not exceed safe limits, but independent testing suggests otherwise.
Chalice Mining is steadfast that a mission to find a partner for a massive new nickel-copper-platinum group elements project on the cusp of a State Forest is progressing, despite a year going by with no luck.
Another wave of pain is set to wash over WA’s floundering nickel miners with Indonesia set to expand its supply stream of the metal.
BHP is seemingly trimming its nickel operations as much as possible before making a decision on the continued existence of Nickel West.
A tenement tug-of-war between two beleaguered mining heavyweights is on the precipice of being decided by a 50/50 lucky dip.
BHP, the world’s largest miner, has reportedly stood down around a quarter of the workers constructing its West Musgrave nickel and copper project in WA.
Georgina McKay
BHP boss Geraldine Slattery says Australia needs to find its competitive edge again, with decades spent relying solely on bountiful iron ore discoveries and natural gas for prosperity now firmly in the past.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has confirmed options to support the beleaguered nickel industry are still under consideration – but stopped of committing to a rescue package in the upcoming Federal Budget.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Macquarie strategists believe the worst of a jarring nickel price bust that has cost jobs and mines in WA could be over.
Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King will make for North America to get her counterparts on board with a green surcharge for Australia’s priced-out critical minerals.
A leading commodities forecaster has confirmed the worst fears of Australia’s drowning nickel producers.
Andrew Forrest has called on the London Metal Exchange to differentiate between “dirty” and “clean” nickel, after his privately-held metals business announced it would be forced to shut mines.
Paul-Alain Hunt
Investors who resisted the temptation to expose themselves to the miners in vogue this time last year have been richly rewarded.
With the Prime Minister and his Federal Cabinet in town this week, there was hope he would throw the nickel industry a lifeline as it teeters on the brink of collapse.
Libby Mettam
Swiss miner Glencore will keep churning out nickel from one of the last mines standing in WA despite a big slump in production during a hellish year for the commodity.
BHP has confirmed government assistance could be too little too late in rescuing the drowning WA nickel operations that caused the Big Australian to cut its interim dividend.
The State’s peak mining lobby has reheated calls to slash bureaucratic red tape as the besieged WA nickel industry faces a nervous wait for Tuesday.