The Tasmanian government has shut down a West Coast mine that owes the state about $1 million in royalties.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday evening, Resources Minister Felix Ellis said the government had directed Hellyer Gold Mines to cease operations at its mine in north-west Tasmania.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Mr Ellis said the company had significantly fallen behind on its debts, despite being given multiple opportunities to comply over an “extended period”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The mine has been accused of falling behind in royalty payments and other debts. (Supplied: www.hellyermetals.com.au)<\/p>\n
Speaking on Wednesday morning, Liberal MP Nick Duigan said the company owed the state government “around a million dollars”, and that there were also potential environmental and statutory compliance concerns.<\/p>\n
Chief executive of the Tasmanian Minerals, Manufacturing and Energy Council, Ray Mostogl, said the mining company also owed contractors and suppliers “many millions” on top of what it owed the state.<\/p>\n
Decision ‘not taken lightly’ by government<\/p>\n
Mr Duigan said the mine had been running a scaled-back operation in recent times, and the decision would affect between 20 and 30 employees.<\/p>\n
“We know the Hellyer mine has had some issues in terms of meeting its financial obligations to the government and also to suppliers and contractors in the region,” he said.<\/p>\n
When asked if the decision by the government was unprecedented, Mr Duigan said it was not something of which he had “historical knowledge”.<\/p>\n
“It is not a step the government would take lightly,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said the government would work with the employees, suppliers and contractors affected by the move.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Workers affected by the mine shutdown will be offered government assistance. (Intec Ltd)<\/p>\n
Speaking to ABC Radio Hobart, Mr Mostogl said the mine’s owner needed to decide its future.<\/p>\n
“Either continue this operation and address the non-conformances, or put it into administration or sell,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said the company had been generating revenue in recent years by reprocessing material from the mine’s tailings dams.<\/p>\n
But, he said, the company had returned to the underground mine in the past year, which would have required significant investment in equipment and a capable workforce.<\/p>\n
“I suspect the expenses are probably more than they expected, and the revenue has been slower than they expected,” Mr Mostogl said.<\/p>\n
“They have been caught out. The mine, as I understand it \u2026 is actually a viable business but it has a debt that it can’t service.”<\/p>\n
He said he understood what the company owed other parties significantly outweighed what it owed the government, and climbed into the “many millions” of dollars.<\/p>\n
Mr Mostogl also said he was not aware of a similar intervention by a government in the past, but that there had been “close calls” with other mine operators in recent years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The company has been reprocessing material from the mine’s tailings dams. (Supplied: im-mining.com)<\/p>\n
Mayor concerned about effect on community<\/p>\n
Mr Ellis said the government would support Hellyer mine staff affected by the decision.<\/p>\n
“Our government will support affected workers, with access to Employee Assistance Program services, career advice and pathways to alternative employment, upskilling or reskilling where required,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We call on the company to resolve its non-compliances, make good on what is owed, and ensures a clear, stable and safe pathway forward.”<\/p>\n
Waratah-Wynyard Mayor Mary Duniam is worried how the shutdown will impact the wider community. (ABC News: Mackenzie Heard)<\/p>\n
Also speaking to ABC Radio Hobart, the Mayor of Waratah-Wynyard Council, Mary Duniam, said the council was unaware of the issues at the Hellyer mine before news broke on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
But, she said the closure of the mine would affect the region’s economy and the broader community.<\/p>\n
“Our mining industry is the economic backbone of the western area of Tasmania,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Any closure, whether short term or long term, generates a negative impact on our local economy and the health and wellbeing of our local communities.”<\/p>\n
She said she was concerned about the possibility of workforce redundancies, and said residents of her municipality affected by this decision needed to be looked after.<\/p>\n
Hellyer Gold Mines has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tasmanian government has shut down a West Coast mine that owes the state about $1 million in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,18679,106558,7172,161679,70707,116535,48995,8539,2801],"class_list":["post-278938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-closure","tag-debts","tag-felix-ellis","tag-hellyer-gold-mine","tag-north-west","tag-shut-down","tag-state-government","tag-tas","tag-tasmania"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}