News

Minerals behemoth cuts back massive iron expansion plan in northern WA over concerns for habit of vulnerable wildlife.

Australia is falling behind Qatar and the US in the race to become the dominant supplier of LNG and the country’s dwindling ranking should stoke alarm bells in Canberra if it is to address the looming domestic gas supply crunch, one of the world’s largest energy companies has warned.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has cited a mural on a central NSW post office as proof of the existence of the blue-­banded bee dreaming story, one of the central reasons she killed the Blayney goldmine proposal despite evidence from the local land council that the story is not ­Wiradjuri tradition.

Mining giant Rio Tinto and its partner in the Rhodes Ridge joint venture have informed Federal environmental regulators that they would no longer push ahead with a long-awaited proposal to mine the Giles Mini deposit near Newman due to its impact on potential roosting sites for the vulnerable Ghost Bat.

11 October 2024.

The Albanese government is facing a loss of social licence for its energy transition, particularly in regional areas. A recent survey confirmed this decline, with less than half of the respondents (47 per cent) feeling positive about the renewables transition compared with the peak of 70 per cent in August 2022.

It was meant to be the last piece of the net-zero jigsaw – green hydrogen. The renewable energy plus batteries pieces were (sort of) in place. Green hydrogen, using electrolysis powered by renewable energy, would be the means whereby hard-to-decarbonise sectors could achieve net-zero emissions.

Hancock Prospecting has scaled back its proposed Mulga Downs iron ore mine in the Pilbara, reducing annual production from 20 million tonnes (Mt) to 12Mt after reducing the project’s footprint.

The government has called out the Dutton nuclear plan’s interim reliance on gas. The trouble is that Labor has its own vulnerabilities.

Annual production at Hancock Prospecting’s proposed Mulga Downs iron ore mine in the Pilbara has been cut from 20 million tonnes to 12mt after the miner slashed the project footprint.

Mining approvals in WA remain stubbornly slow, according to the latest State Government analysis, stoking fears about the prospect of more bureaucracy.

If WA’s current situation were a character in a film, we’d be the unsung hero, the reliable sidekick, the supporting character who does the heavy lifting but never gets the credit- at least not from Canberra under the Albanese Government.