Leinster's fortunes are joined at the hip to BHP and nickel. As the company town nears its 50th anniversary, its future is more uncertain than ever.
The Western Australian outback is pockmarked with remnant towns which rose and fell with the whims of mining.
Legendary gold rush communities such as Agnew and Kanowna are little more than memory today, while the likes of Gwalia and Big Bell have a new life satiating our fascination in ghost towns.
With BHP preparing to mothball its Nickel West assets in October for what sounds like at least four years, the future of a town almost entirely inhabited by nickel workers is now at a crossroads.
“Leinster; we would continue to honour the obligations of running that town,” BHP Nickel West asset president Jessica Farrell said.
“That would mean continuing our footprint in the community, albeit that might not be as significant, and the services and infrastructure that supports that.
“Our priority and preference to those that continue and support us through temporary suspension would be in residential locations.”
Leinster was established in 1976 for the Agnew Gold Mining Company’s nickel mine, which has been run by BHP Nickel West since 2005.
The mine was closed from 1986 to 1989 due to low nickel prices, and underground mining was suspended from 2013 to 2016.
BHP Nickel West’s Mount Keith open pit and Cliffs underground mines, which opened in 1995 and 2008, have both become crucial for the town’s existence too.
Leinster housed some 716 residents in 2021, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
BHP owns all 284 homes in town and an 800-pax motel services fly-in, fly-out workers.
To live there you have to be a BHP employee.
Towns like this were once common – Dampier, Wickham, and Tom Price were company setups.
But today Rio Tinto’s Pannawonica, BHP’s Leinster, Newcrest’s Telfer, and Shark Bay Resources’ Useless Loop are the only ones remaining.
A 2018 article by ABC Goldfields paints a fascinating picture of life in the unique town – free houses, minimal crime, lots of trees, and 100 per cent employment.
The penny-saving and close-knit community lifestyle is juxtaposed by isolation, limited schooling, and long shifts.
Leinster is on Tjiwarl Country – a Traditional Owner group which has been pressing hard to build businesses, relationships and jobs to latch on to opportunities provided by miners.
Non-mining work in the remote area is scarce, and what is around mostly relies on government money and policy.
BHP has been a big supporter of Tjiwarl’s endeavours and in 2023 featured Tjiwarl trainees in its ‘That’s Big’ TV advertisements.
The big Australian has pledged to work with traditional owners impacted by the shutdown of Nickel West.
Tjiwarl Aboriginal Corporation director Kado Muir said at its peak BHP Nickel West had 50 Tjiwarl people on-site, representing about $5 million in annual wages.
“That is going to be in jeopardy or lost if the company can’t continue to employ them,” he said.
“In terms of the Tjiwarl relationship with BHP everything is secure… but on the ground, the practical reality of our people working on BHP Nickel West operations, there is a level of concern.
“The biggest differentiator with other workers employed on these operations, they can move place-to-place, but for Tjiwarl people it would be like moving to another country to work.”
Mr Muir said any government or industry support to flow for the region following BHP’s decision had to focus on keeping Traditional Owners on Country.
He said Tjiwarl businesses could absorb some staff, and that others could be offered retraining through the Tjiwarl Centre of Excellence to work on other mines.
As far as other opportunities go there are plenty of goldminers in the area and some iron ore interests further north.
Liontown’s Kathleen Valley lithium mine which is due to come online next month is 60 kilometres up the road, near BHP’s nickel mines.
Should no other local job opportunities arise, the town risks being home to little more than a maintenance skeleton crew as it approaches its 50th anniversary.
The Shire of Leonora was contacted for comment.
