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oPInIon

It was extremely encouraging to

hear Prime Minister Anthony

Albanese talk so glowingly recently

about the contribution Australian

mining and resources will make to

global decarbonisation…

peaking at the Minerals Council of portunities and economic benefits for the Along with policy settings to ensure we
SAustralia dinner during Minerals communities in which it’s mined. keep the tap open on the upstream, this
Week, the Prime Minister said: “We have For instance, the Cassini mine that will continue to translate into more jobs
an unmatched natural advantage in clean opened in March of last year was Kam- and the capability integral to future am-
energy. The sunniest continent on earth, balda’s first new nickel project for two bitions to expand downstream activities
some of the strongest winds in the world decades, while significant operations have across a range of commodities.
– and all the minerals and metals needed also been revived in Ravensthorpe after There are, of course, some quite high-
to drive the energy transition.” being shuttered not so long back. profile labour and skills challenges for our
The West Australian mining and re- And then you have BHP Nickel West, industry and many others at the moment.
sources sector will naturally be at the cen- which is the State’s largest nickel producer But CME and its member companies
tre of all that. and opened the country’s first nickel sul- were heartened by the support for the sec-
We’re incredibly excited about the op- phate plant in Kwinana in October 2021. tor among attendees at the Federal Gov-
portunities in front of us and proud of both Nickel West not only sells 85% of its prod- ernment’s Jobs and Skills Summit, and
the vital role we’re currently playing and uct to global battery material suppliers but the alignment on some concrete actions
the one we’ll play into the fu- we have been advocating for
ture. over some time.
I know Paydirt’s annual Through local education
Australian Nickel Confer- Nickel has probably been subject to and training, sustained and
ence – the country’s only more price and supply fluctuations well-targeted skilled migra-
such event – is just around than pretty much any other mineral we tion and initiatives to tap
the corner, so it seems an “latent capacity” in the skills
opportune time to reflect on “ extract and produce in WA. pool, I’m confident the right
that commodity, its ongoing collaborative approach is
impact on the WA mining and there to build the WA mining
resources landscape and its importance to also plans to power 100% of its down- and resources workforce of tomorrow.
decarbonisation efforts. stream facilities via a combination of solar On another note, it’s been great to have
I think it’s fair to say nickel has probably and wind generation. Rebecca Tomkinson join the CME team in
been subject to more price and supply More downstream processing taking our offices over the past few weeks as she
fluctuations than pretty much any other place here in WA is another important by- continues to transition into her new role as
mineral we extract and produce in WA. product of a resurgence in commodities chief executive officer.
There have been boom times but, on like nickel. As the world’s largest supplier I’m sure Paydirt’s readers will hear a
the flipside, there have been periods of of lithium and a top five supplier of nickel, lot more from Rebecca over the months to
significant challenges. It’s only five years cobalt and rare earths, the opportunities come, and that she’s going to be a terrific
ago that nickel was probably still being for WA are immense. advocate for the WA mining and resources
regarded primarily as a key ingredient in While not without its challenges, (both sector.
steel production and sitting at close to its technical and commercial) downstream
lowest price this century. processing increases our ability to capture Adrienne LaBombard is the Chamber of
To see nickel establishing a niche as a more of these value chains here in WA. As Minerals & Energy WA’s Acting Director
core component in lithium-ion batteries you go downstream, the complexity of pro- of Policy and Advocacy
has been fantastic. With the global uptake cesses increases as do the demands for
of electric vehicles set to continue apace, highly skilled workers.
nickel’s recent rise is a positive signal that WA’s progress and recent successes
will help provide the confidence and cer- across lithium hydroxide and nickel sul-
tainty needed to see projects in the pipe- phate is already expanding our local talent
line come to fruition, generating job op- pool and know-how in important ways.

Page 12 OCTOBeR 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT