Welcome news on Cloncurry mine plan

The Palaszczuk Government today welcomed the latest milestone in plans for the development of the Altona copper-gold project near Cloncurry in North West Queensland. 

Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment, Curtis Pitt, said if the plans came to fruition the project would generate 300 construction jobs and 280 direct ongoing production jobs. 

“This is a project that would inject new job opportunities and new economic activity into the north-west at a time unemployment rates in the region are well above the state average,” Mr Pitt said. 

Altona Mining Limited today announced that all Chinese Government approvals had been received for the involvement of the the Sichuan Railway Investment Group (SRIG) in a joint venture to develop the project 95 kilometres north-east of Mount Isa. 

Foreign Investment Review Board approval was still to be received. 

The planned mine would be owned by a JV company with Alton holding 34 per cent and SRIG 66 per cent. The joint venturers plan a 7 million-tonne-a-year open pit copper-gold mine and concentrator with an initial mine life of 13 years. 

Mr Pitt said it was positive news for the Queensland resources sector as a whole and the communities of north-west in particular. 

“The Altona project offers good jobs as well as spin-offs for local businesses,” he said. 

Mr Pitt said the project had native title agreements and mining leases in place. 

“It shows the ongoing strength of the resources sector and the important role it plays in our diverse state economy,” he said. 

“It also underlines the strength of investor confidence in Queensland.” 

Mr Pitt said other major resource projects under way or planned included: 

• QGC’s $1.7 billion Charlie 1 natural gas project to at Wandoan which will support 1600 jobs;
• Rio Tinto’s $2.6 billion Amrun bauxite development at Weipa, with an average construction workforce of 600 people over three years;
• Adani’s $21.7 billion Carmichael Coal mine, rail and port project; and  
• An investment pipeline of $2 billion large-scale renewable energy projects, including wind and solar, that will support more than 1900 jobs in construction. 

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is currently in India where she will be meet with the leadership of Adani to discuss its progress on the Carmichael Coal project. 

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