Tasmanian Government will continue to support affected workers at Avebury

The Tasmanian Liberal Government fully supports our mining and minerals processing sector and is extremely disappointed about the announcement regarding the Avebury Nickel Mine.

Kordamentha, the Receivers and Managers of the mine, have confirmed that the Avebury Nickel Mine will be transitioning into care and maintenance due to a 50 per cent decline in global nickel prices since last year.

Tasmanian Premier, Jeremy Rockliff, and Resources Minister, Felix Ellis, said the Government’s key concern is the wellbeing of the workers, suppliers, contractors and community impacted by this situation.

“Our Government stands ready to support affected workers and their families and the entire West Coast community,” Premier Rockliff said.

“The West Coast is a resilient community and the local mining industry more broadly is performing well with a strong demand for workers.”

Minister for Resources, Felix Ellis, said that unfortunately Tasmania has not been immune to the global nickel implosion which is mothballing mines across Australia and internationally, with other nickel mines like Cosmos, Cassini, Long, Durkin, Savannah and Andrew Forrest’s Kambalda mines also entering care and maintenance.

“Tasmania is already engaged with the Commonwealth and Western Australia as we work through a national production tax credit proposal for nickel – an important battery metal. Tasmania continues to urge the Commonwealth to include nickel on the critical mineral list.

“I’ve spoken the West Coast Mayor Shane Pitt today and it is a matter of public record that this has been a complex situation for some time, but we will be there for those workers and their families to assist them through this challenging time,” Minister Ellis said.

The Tasmanian Government has provided significant support to the Avebury Mine through the approval of a royalty payment instalment plan to help Mallee manage its cashflow, providing more than $110,000 reduction in a security deposit held by Aurora, providing a $300,000 credit refund through a Renewable Energy Target exemption and investment funds through our Exploration Drilling Grant Initiative.

In July last year we also offered an emergency support package of $800,000 but conditions for this funding were not able to be met.

The Tasmanian Government has a track record of backing our resources sector and those who work in this sector, and we will leave no stone unturned to assist those Tasmanian workers and their families impacted by this disappointing decision.