Mining future uncertain for Ravensthorpe
Two battery metals mines near Ravensthorpe used to support a 400-strong workforce of local residents, but this time next year most of them will be out of a job.
Depressed market conditions for nickel and lithium have claimed two mines near the regional town, 530 kilometres southeast of Perth, which counts mining as one of its key industries.
Operator of the Mt Cattlin lithium mine just north of Ravensthorpe, Arcadium Lithium, yesterday announced it was moving the mine onto care and maintenance by mid-2025.
It comes less than six months after First Quantum Minerals announced it would mothball its nickel mine, also in response to weak market conditions.
The two battery metals mines- the only mining operations in that area- collectively employed 400 local residents from the closeby towns of Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun.
For context, the Shire of Ravensthorpe has a population of 2,085, with mining and grain farming listed as its key industries, although tourism is increasingly on the agenda.
“It’s been a fall off a pretty steep cliff” is how Shire of Ravensthorpe president Tom Major described the impact of the two mines being mothballed in a short period of time.
“It's tough and our thoughts, the communities’ thoughts, go out to those people affected, the workers and families that will lose their jobs,” Mr Major told Business News.
“We only had two operating mines, one is already in care and maintenance, and the other one is heading into care and maintenance.
“It's been a fall off a pretty steep cliff in terms of 12 months ago having both mines operating and numbers through our airport getting up to 50,000 passengers a year.
“By the middle of next year, we'll be looking at very minimal mining activity, unless some other little projects get off the ground around the place. It's just the way it goes in our area, unfortunately.”
Arcadium Lithium plans to keep mining the orebody at its existing open pit for the next six months, before shifting the mine onto care and maintenance with an eye to potentially resume operating when market conditions become more favourable.
Mt Cattlin supported a total workforce of around 230 workers, a mix of direct Arcadium employees and contractors. Mr Major said about 100 of those were local jobs.
FQM’s nickel operation had a workforce of about 330, the majority of which were locals. At the time, FQM said it would continue to support the Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun communities in the period ahead.
Production at FQM’s mothballed nickel mine ceased in May, a move that followed a series of scale backs in the sector from the likes of IGO and Wyloo Metals.
More recently, BHP Nickel West announced it would mothball its operations from October this year, a decision that will impact about 3,000 employees.
Recent mining industry fallout has put about 8,000 jobs on the line across Western Australia, including direct and contracted workers.
First Quantum Minerals moved its mine onto care and maintenance earlier this year.
Mr Major said on top of the local jobs lost, there were the flow on effects on small businesses, school numbers, sporting clubs and more.
Arcadium Lithium head of Australian operations Liam Franklyn said the number of employees at Mt Cattlin would remain consistent until sometime in the first half of 2025, when processing of the current stage three ore was completed.
“Redundancies will be considered in due course as care and maintenance is approached,” he told this masthead.
Mr Franklyn said moving to care and maintenance would keep the mine and processing facilities in a state to potentially resume operations when market conditions improve.
Arcadium is assessing the viability of underground mining at the Mt Cattlin site, which could extend the mine life. The current open pit operation has a mine life to FY27.
When asked whether he was consulted, or saw it coming, Mr Major said they weren’t surprised by Arcadium’s decision, but FQM’s move was shocking.
“The FQM nickel mine, that was a big shock, because they made a lot of promises about a 20-year life span and that was expected to go a lot longer,” he said.
“This mine [Mt Cattlin] is less surprising. They'd always talked about a mine life to 2026 and then a possibility of an extension if they go underground, but that was a big if.
“There'll be no one in the community that's that surprised by this Arcadium announcement, I guess we just hoped that they were going to go underground and carry on.
“It was only less than 12 months ago, they had plans for 250-man camp that they were going to build. So, it's been a pretty dramatic turnaround from there.”
Member for Roe Peter Rundle described Arcadium Lithium's decision to mothball Mt Cattlin as a devastating blow to the communities of Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun.
“While the state government has invested heavily in helping the Labor heartland of Collie transition away from coal, it’s clear that regions like Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun are being left behind,” he said.
“We need that same level of support and funding to help these communities diversify and build resilience.”
Mr Major said the council had identified the need for diversification, with an aim to attract state government investment into tourism infrastructure to grow its offerings.
“It’s been in the back of everyone's minds, but it's now become very clear, the need to not be reliant on any one industry," he said.
“We've got a big focus on tourism as a growth industry, and then, of course, supporting agricultural industry, which has always been a mainstay in the community.
“We’ve got a tourism development strategy and an economic growth strategy, which we plan to implement to make sure we're diversified and resilient into the future.”
Mr Major said there were junior miners in the area, like Medallion Metals and International Graphite, who were looking to develop projects which could see an uptick in mining jobs.
Last month, IGO and Medallion reached a deal for the possible divestment of assets and gold and silver rights at the nickel miner’s Forrestania project.
