Madeleine King hands nickel miners access to $4bn Federal critical minerals fund in lifeline for sector

Resources Minister Madeleine King has belatedly placed nickel on the critical minerals list, giving companies in the beleaguered sector access to billions of dollars in Commonwealth funding.

With Premier Roger Cook poised unveil a royalty relief package for nickel miners, the Federal Government on Friday announced its first response to the unfolding crisis.

Nickel was controversially overlooked when Ms King updated the critical minerals list in December, causing dismay among miners struggling to keep their operations viable amid the flood of cheap supply from Indonesia.

A spot on the list hands companies access to the Commonwealth’s $4 billion critical minerals fund, which offers loans, bonds and working capital to help get projects off the ground.

Since the December announcement, six nickel facilities have either scaled back their operations or gone into “care and maintenance”.

BHP on Thursday announced it was considering mothballing Nickel West, putting 2500 jobs on the line.

In a sign of just how precarious the Federal Government considers the BHP situation to be, Ms King said it would be “very difficult” to restart the State’s nickel industry if Nickel West was shuttered.

“So this is a very serious moment, and I’m very cognisant of that, and so is the Prime Minister and the Treasurer,” she told ABC Perth.

Ms King defended the decision to snub nickel in December’s critical minerals list update, arguing the sector wasn’t “in this position” two months ago.

In earlier statement, she said the Federal Government needed to be “proactive” in responding to the crisis.

“The international nickel price is forecast to stay relatively low through 2024, and likely for several years to come until the surplus of nickel in the market is corrected,” she said.

“In the meantime, this puts further Australian nickel operations at risk.

“Given impacts to our domestic capacity and noting the broader market developments presently unfolding in the nickel sector, I am fully convinced that we must be proactive in addressing the recent developments, including by adding nickel to the Critical Minerals List.”

The Federal Government has been under increasing pressure to help rescue the nickel industry, with Mr Cook saying “governments at all levels” needed to step up.

Access to the $4 billion critical minerals fund will likely not go far enough for the sector, which has been pushing for Commonwealth tax credits that would refund up to 10 per cent of production costs for chemicals such as nickel sulphate.

Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Rebecca Tomkinson welcomed Friday’s announcement – but said was more needed.

“Access for nickel projects to bid for financial support under the Critical Minerals Facility is welcome news,” she said.

“However, we also need action from state and federal governments to deliver the settings required for a resilient and competitive critical minerals industry.

“These are measures we have long been calling for such as turnkey industrial land, investment in productive infrastructure and competitive fiscal settings.”