The announced closure of the Mt Lyell mine will be a blow to the tight-knit West Coast community coming so soon after the Henty Mine closure news, Greens Leader and Mining spokesperson Kim Booth MP said today.
“It cannot be underestimated how devastating the decision to close the Mt Lyell mine will be for the 200 plus workers and their families,” Mr Booth said.
“However the Mount Lyell mine and the surrounding area of Queenstown, offer a massive amount of immediate work in mine remediation and environmental rehabilitation and Copper Mines Tasmania should now start this work.”
“In addition, workers need assistance with retraining and transitional support as well as retention of the skills and knowledge of these workers, to ensure diversification of the local economy can occur.”
“Tasmania has a wealth of skills and expertise in mine safety, mineralogy and mine rehabilitation that we need to tap into to shift beyond a short-term reliance on mineral extraction on its own.”
“There are huge opportunities in Queenstown and the West Coast region, especially in mine remediation which would provide years of work.”
“The Mount Lyell closure is also sombre reminder that when a region’s economy is based on one industry, if that industry closes, the whole regional economy crashes.”
“Copper Mines Tasmania needs to outline a workforce retraining and transition strategy, along with its site rehabilitation timeframe, as a matter of urgency.”
“The West Coast community is resilient and will build a new future, however now CMT has taken all it can from our ground it needs to reinvest in providing the local community with sufficient tools to help with the rebuilding task ahead,” Mr Booth said.