Latest news with #mineclosure
ABC News
06-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Lithium mine closure shines light on Ravensthorpe community's resilience
For the first time in almost a decade, Ravensthorpe is without a working mine. The start of the new financial year saw the lithium mine at Mt Cattlin, just north of the town and about 500 kilometres south-east of Perth, placed into care and maintenance. It was the another casualty of market volatility that claimed a number of mines across Western Australia, and triggered the loss of hundreds of jobs. It is the second hit Ravensthorpe has taken, with 300 local jobs lost when the town's nickel mine was shuttered last year. But disruption isn't unusual for the community. It's the second time in 15 years the lithium mine has been mothballed. Beyond the mine closure, there have been floods, fires, a plane crash and a sex scandal that engulfed the local council. Lifelong Ravensthorpe local and shire president Tom Major said the run of adversity highlighted the strength of people in the town. "Look, we are a resilient community and it's just another page in the chapter of where we live," he said. "We'll soldier on. The agricultural industry is going really well, we're having a reasonable season, and the tourists just keep coming, so that industry is doing well. This most recent mine closure hasn't come as a surprise, with former owners Arcadium Lithium flagging the project for care and maintenance in September last year. Mr Major said unlike previous project closures, which happened almost overnight, the extended process had allowed the council to assess its priorities. The long lead time has given about 110 workers time to look for other jobs, with many staying in the community thanks to an improvement in services like NBN. "There have been people leave the community and school numbers are down a little bit, so I wouldn't say we've come through unaffected," Mr Major said. "We've got some of the some of the best fibre-to-the-premise internet you can get. "So we are seeing people move here that can work remotely or have online businesses, that sort of thing." Cheap and available housing, strong agriculture and a burgeoning tourism sector are also keeping the local economy ticking along. The influx of new people and a move towards showing off the region's unique features is spurring on Sue Leighton, chair of the newly formed Ravensthorpe tourism advisory group. "The community is sort of used to mining coming and going … and we have been eased into this," Ms Leighton said. She said the tourism sector would be pivotal in ensuring the region's survival. The Hopetoun local said now there was no active mining in the region, there was a chance to re-focus, and that the community remained open to new possibilities. "There's always activity for mining, for exploration and research," Ms Leighton said. "The townspeople are very resilient and look if new new mine starts up, we'll welcome all those people to come into town. "Then if they go again, we'll be sad that they're gone, but we've made good friends." Community consultation over the shutdown began almost 12 months ago, before any announcement that the project would be placed on care and maintenance. Shortly after Arcadium Lithium announced the closure, the company was snapped up by mining giant Rio Tinto. While Rio Tinto's reputation in WA has suffered in recent years, its approach in Ravensthorpe has been hailed within the community and the company as best practice. "I haven't seen a relationship between a mine and a community as strong as the one that I've seen here between the Mt Cattlin mine and the town of Ravensthorpe," said Rio Tinto's general manager of technical services Leigh Slomp. While Mt Cattlin's operating future remains uncertain, Mr Slomp said they were proud of how they had worked with the community. "That strong community consultation group … that's the sort of thing we want to be doing while we're in operation, not just when we get to a point where we might have to make a difficult decision," he said. "We've always been very open with the community … we need to be as transparent as we can be and that transparency then is reciprocated because the community understands the situation." Mr Slomp said Rio Tinto would remain active in the community while the project was on care and maintenance, and other miners could benefit from a similarly transparent approach. "Not only just to gain that social licence to operate, it's because we're operating within the community," he said. "We we need to be working with the community, we're not separate to the community. "I think this exercise that we've gone through in this care and maintenance phase with the town of Ravensthorpe should be held up as a model for other companies."
CBC
26-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Indigenous groups weigh in on closure plans for N.W.T.'s Diavik mine, urge more use of traditional knowledge
Some Indigenous groups in the N.W.T. are weighing in on Diavik Diamond Mine's closure plans, and saying Indigenous traditional knowledge should play a bigger role in those plans. The closure represents "the most important time in the mine's life," according to the Łutsel K'e Dene First Nation (LKDFN), in a written submission to the Wek'èezhìi Land and Water Board ahead of Diavik's water licence renewal. The First Nation says the mine's closure will determine how healthy the land and water will be after the operation is gone. Diavik is set to close early 2026, and its water licence, which authorizes water use and waste discharge, expires at the end of this year. A public hearing on the water licence renewal application will be held in Behchoko from June 10 to 12. In its letter to the land and water board, LKDFN urges that a condition to be added requiring Diavik to seek approval from a panel of traditional knowledge holders for all site closure objectives. The First Nation says that should be in addition to the scientific monitoring that Diavik has recommended. "Science alone will not instill confidence in the community that water is safe to drink, fish are safe to eat, that dust levels, revegetation, and landscape features are acceptable," LKDFN's submission reads. The First Nation says that only when scientists and traditional knowledge holders agree on these issues will the mine closure be deemed successful. The Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) raised similar concerns in its letter to the land and water board. Matthew Spence, CEO of the First Nation, wrote in the letter that as things stand now, YKDFN is "deeply concerned that the outcomes of closure will see continued impacts on the environment, harming the return of our people." "For the YKDFN, safe is more than absence of harm. Safe means that our members and their families can go to Ek'a Ti and know that not only will it [not] harm them, but that they can live and prosper," Spence said. YKDFN's letter also points to conflicting perspectives when it comes to water quality around the site, saying Diavik's science-based approach to sampling suggests the water quality is acceptable while traditional knowledge studies suggest otherwise. The First Nation says its most recent results from a monitoring camp in 2024 found only two of fifteen fish caught at the camp were deemed healthy enough for further sampling and consumption. "At this point, YKDFN are concerned that the system places the overwhelming reliance on the sampling programs based on Western science, with a failure to provide for meaningful incorporation of the concerns founded in TK [traditional knowledge] observations," the letter reads. Other closed mines left 'negative perspectives around mining' Another Indigenous government is more optimistic about Diavik's closure plans. The Tłı̨chǫ government says it hopes the Diavik closure leaves a positive legacy, and doesn't repeat the environmental damage seen at older sites in the territory like Giant Mine, or the Rayrock uranium mine. Brett Wheler, a senior advisor with Tłı̨chǫ Government's department of culture and lands protection, says they want to see more water testing done before Diavik closes. Wheler said other mines that left without a proper clean-up had long-standing impacts. "That's caused harm to the environment and to people and it's given sort of a negative relationship or negative perspectives around mining," Wheler said. He said the big areas of the Diavik site have already been cleaned up even before the mining is finished, which is a good sign. "From a technical perspective and from the elders' traditional and cultural perspective, when we go on site, we see that that clean-up work that's already been completed as really positive," Wheler said. Wheler described how Diavik is planning to make sure the water stays clean by putting a thick layer of clean rock on top of all waste rock piles. That means when there is rainfall or snow, the water will not come into contact with the waste rock before running off into natural streams and down to nearby Lac de Gras. "That's the first kind of big, big step to try to keep the water clean. So most of that has been done already," Wheler said. Still, the Tłı̨chǫ government is recommending careful water testing to ensure it's safe and healthy for Tłıcho citizens using the water and land around that area. "We want to make sure that if there are any small effects that are going to be longer-term after the mine is closed, that those are really as small as possible and that they don't have any safety or health risks," Wheler said. The Diavik mine is expected to be the first of the N.W.T.'s three diamond mines to close in the coming years, with Ekati expected to operate until 2029 and Gahcho Kué expected to operate until about 2030.
