REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT
THE TREES AREN’T ALL THAT’S GREEN IN TASMANIA THE FOCUS IS THROWN TO ANOTHER OF AUSTRALIA’S QUIET ACHIEVERS WHERE COLLABORATION IS KEY AND ‘NET-ZERO’ IS EFFECTIVELY A WAY OF LIFE. THE CONTRIBUTION OF TASMANIA’S MINING INDUSTRY IS WORTH FAR MORE THAN THE LAYMAN MIGHT REALISE. HENRY BALLARD WRITES.
GRANGE RESOURCES PRODUCES SOME OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY IRON ORE PELLETS.
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any people might hear Tasmania and think seafood, wine, forestry, or tourism upholds
the state’s economy. But in the 2021 financial year (FY21), Tasmania mined and processed about $2.8 billion worth of product, with $2.3 billion of that being exported. This accounted for 61 per cent of Tasmania’s exports. In November, the state clocked a fourth consecutive month maintaining 12-month export figures above $4 billion, underpinned by mined materials and metal scraps. The Tasmanian Minerals, Manufacturing and Energy Council (TMEC) is a membership-based organisation representing the state’s mining exploration, extraction and processing businesses, energy consumer sectors, advanced manufacturers and associated supply chains. TMEC chief executive officer Ray Mostogl tells Australian Mining he is
very optimistic for the future of the region. “The last 12 months have been incredibly positive and all the signs are that the next 12 will also be strong,” Mostogl says. “The drivers for the big uptake in Tasmanian mining was the rise in iron ore price, and the aluminium and zinc prices have also been favourable for our minerals sector.” The sector has also been bolstered by some significant investment from the state government in the 2021-22 Budget. The Exploration Drilling Grant Initiative (EDGI), for example, received $1.5 million to stimulate greenfields drilling projects, while the Geoscience Initiative received $2 million to better understand regional mineral systems. The Budget also includes $6 million to deliver the final three years of Tasmania’s first Trade Strategy, plus $450,000 is allocated to a Diversity Action Plan to increase gender and cultural diversity in forestry and mining. AUSTRALIANMINING
Mostogl says all this investment is welcomed by the industry as it continues to grow. “We’ve seen a big uptick in exploration with double the number of applications in 2021 compared to 2020,” he says. “The state government has continued on with their incentive program to offset some of the costs and we’re really appreciative of that.” But financial investment isn’t the only thing attracting people to the Tasmanian mining industry, as TMEC continues to reposition the narrative around mining with a new slogan of ‘cleaner, smarter, diverse and proud.’ This has included an extensive program in schools since the start of 2021 which Mostogl says has started to turn some attitudes around. “We had people who just did not understand mining in Tasmania which caused us to get very active in schools,” he says. “We’ve visited almost every high school in the last 12 months to promote the manufacturing and mining industries and raise people’s awareness of their importance to the region.” One of the major selling points for mining in Tasmania is a state-wide claim to fame – net-zero emissions. Tasmania has been carbon neutral in six of the past seven years thanks to its abundance of forests and an electricity grid run completely on renewable energy since 2020 – mostly hydropower and wind. This allows mines to produce some of the greenest minerals in the world, according to Mostogl, but it’s not without its difficulties. “We’re very fortunate to have the hydro and wind power assets to allow us to do that,” Mostogl says. “We expect to navigate challenges involving the renewable energy sector because Tasmania has a legislated objective to become 200 per cent renewable, and some potential wind farms are located above protected mineral resources. “Just as in New South Wales where the farming industry sometimes takes precedence over the coal mining
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industry, I am concerned something similar may occur in Tasmania.” One Tasmanian miner embracing the pillars of TMEC’s campaign is Grange Resources. Grange has operated the Savage River iron ore mine for 53 years and produced over 2.5 million tonnes of iron ore pellets in 2021. The company’s chief operating officer Ben Maynard says his company is keen to embrace whatever technologies allow Savage River to uphold Tasmania’s green reputation. “We’re moving into this interesting time where the world is realising its fragility over a number of issues and we’re now embracing our response to climate change,” Maynard says. “We’re now looking at the other ways and things we can do to adapt our industry to become net-zero. As an industry, we realise we need to change and implement new technologies, so we are positioned to maintain this netzero status for the state.” Grange takes the iron ore from Savage River and transports it 85 kilometres north to its processing facility in Port Latta on Tasmania’s
THE SAVAGE RIVER IRON ORE MINE AT DUSK.
