‘Bloody crazy’ policies slowing critical minerals projects
The man who found the copper deposit at the centre of BHP’s $9.6 billion consolidation of the South Australian mining industry says he would never have made the discovery if working in today’s political climate.
Legendary explorer Rudy Gomez said a swath of unsupportive moves by lawmakers had made it harder to find the next generation of critical minerals projects at a time when the government was talking about prioritising the metals needed for decarbonisation.
“It’s much harder today than when I discovered Carrapateena. If they applied the rules of today, I would not have discovered Carrapateena,” he told The Australian Financial Review.
“With all the regulations, labour laws and things we have in Australia, you would be bloody crazy to put up a business in Australia. But the minerals are here.”
Gomez’s comments came after BHP Minerals Australia boss Geraldine Slattery sparked a storm on Thursday by warning that the full potential of the South Australian copper industry may not be achieved if policymakers failed to improve the nation’s sliding productivity.
This year’s $9.6 billion acquisition of OZ Minerals gave BHP control of Carrapateena – now an underground mine that produced $964 million worth of metal last year – and the Prominent Hill mine.
The two assets are located either side of BHP’s existing Olympic Dam mine and BHP’s prime Australian copper growth option, the Oak Dam copper discovery.
Mr Gomez’s small exploration company is looking for copper and critical minerals on nearby Lake Gairdner, and is not particularly affected by the policy Ms Slattery’s comments were targeting most: the Albanese government’s “same job, same pay” proposals.
But Mr Gomez agreed that numerous incremental reforms had dramatically
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