CME & King support WA Gov lithium move

Industry leaders have come out in support of the WA Government’s relief package for the State’s lithium producers.

This comes as the Federal Government introduced a bill this week to provide up to $17b in production tax incentives for the critical minerals and rare earths industry as part of its Future Made in Australia agenda.

Both the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA (CME WA) and Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King welcomed the announcement, with the peak body’s chief executive Rebecca Tomkinson saying lithium prices are likely to be lower for longer but that the long-term prospects of the commodity remain strong.

“Falling lithium prices have forced a growing number of lithium operations to suspend or cease operations over the past 18 months,” she said.

“However, we know lithium remains a key commodity for the global energy transition and WA is well-placed to play a major role both mining and processing the crucial battery input.

“CME has long advocated for State Government assistance to help lithium facilities through this difficult period and ensure they are well placed to quickly ramp up production when commodity prices improve.

“Today’s announcement is welcome recognition of the commercial reality facing key players in WA’s resources sector.”

The support package for lithium miners in the ramp-up phase of production, as well as downstream processing facilities, includes temporarily waiving fees associated with Government Trading Enterprises such as Synergy and Water Corporation for up to 24 months.

Port charges and mining tenement fees will also be waived for up to two years, while a $50m loan facility will give miners that can demonstrate their long-term viability access to interest-free loans to sustain their operations.

Ms Tomkinson says lithium is critical to global decarbonisation goals and WA had world-class supply at its fingerprints.

“It’s important for governments to act when necessary to support the sector through periods of temporary market weakness and keep WA’s skin in the game for when the market recovers,” she said.

The tax credits compliment other supports provided by the Federal Government for the mining and resources industry, including a doubling of the Critical Minerals Facility from $2b to $4b, an update to the Critical Minerals List, support from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility  (NAIF) and numerous direct grants.

Minister King comments on this.

“The lithium industry plays an increasingly important role in the economy of Western Australia and in the global effort to fight climate change,” she said.

“It provides thousands of good, highly skilled and well-paid jobs.

“It is vital we continue to support this industry so that we step up to our global responsibility to secure supply chains for critical minerals and rare earths globally.”