ART MALONE [GRAPHINEX]: Today is an exciting day for Graphinex. We’re opening the Townsville Battery Anode Hub. It’s a state-of-the-art facility that takes graphite from our mine sites all the way through to battery over to material. The mine site and our resources in the area are the third largest globally and it produces the highest performing batteries globally.

JOURNALIST: How long has this been in the works for?

MALONE: We’ve been working on this for the last 18 months. We’ve been in construction for the last 12 months. So, this state-of-the-art facility has equipment that has never been used outside Australia before. It’s really bringing skill sets to Australia, transferring other industries and other people’s skill sets across to the battery industry.

JOURNALIST: And is this an Australian first?

MALONE: Yes, this is an Australian first and it’s fully integrated. There are companies trialing little bits and pieces of this process, but this takes every part of the flow sheet; from mine site through to making the battery. So, it is an Australian first and it is really a state-of-the-art facility.

JOURNALIST: It says that this will create 200 jobs. Where will they be based and how will that benefit local manufacturing?

MALONE: Yeah, so, look, once – this facility itself is demonstration scale. So, the use of this facility is for off-take, producing product at scale in real-size equipment to produce off-take. So, in this facility we’ll bring in 10 staff to run this one. Once we get through our approvals and once we get the mine up and running the downstream facility [indistinct] 200 jobs and really bring a new industry into Queensland in the battery manufacturing area. Right now, we don’t produce any graphite out of any mine in Australia. So, we’ll be looking to bring Australia’s first graphite mine into play now and then also downstream manufacturing.

JOURNALIST: How does that give industry here in Australia give us the edge over other competing nations?

MALONE: Yeah, in Australia we typically dig out a resource and send it overseas. It’s the downstream manufacturing that’s really important to bring in new skill sets, new industry, jobs, people. It’s really important for Australia.

JOURNALIST: So, this is opening here today, but you’re waiting on the mine site? Can you tell us a bit about that?

MALONE: Yeah, so as I mentioned before, this facility is for higher qualifications. So, it’s proof of concept, proof you can do it at a scale outside of using full-size equipment for off-take. Off-take requires full-size equipment. So, what we’re looking to do now is build on the approval side of things with the mine site, build on the approval side of the downstream manufacturing, and then bring all of that together.

JOURNALIST: And you guys will be doing that or?

MALONE: Yeah, so from today we’ll be operating this facility and working on our approvals to get ourselves ready for the full-scale operation.

JOURNALIST: Senator can we just grab your name, title and your announcement.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Anthony Chisholm, Labor Senator for Queensland and Assistant Minister for Resources. I’m really pleased to be here today, obviously an exciting day for this region. We’re really invested in seeing critical minerals develop across North Queensland and in the Townsville region. We understand that facilities like this one are the future of the economy in this part of the world. We need to ensure that we can see developments like this take place.

I think that Australia and regional Queensland have been great at digging up resources for decades, but what we haven’t been great at doing is value adding. And that’s the opportunity that critical minerals present to us, and that’s what we need to take advantage of, and what this facility is going to take advantage of into the future.

So, from the mine site to here at the processing site, it’s going to create those value-adding jobs here in Townsville, before we then export those batteries overseas. There’s enormous demand for graphite across the world. It’s going to increase significantly over the next five years. The Federal Government wants to ensure that we can help companies take advantage of that. It’s good for the economy, good for regional jobs and good for Australia’s sovereign capability at the same time.

JOURNALIST: How does that full circle of process help boost critical minerals?

CHISHOLM: Well, what it does is it actually provides those value-added jobs that we don’t necessarily see in our traditional strength in resources, like coal for instance. So, we want to ensure that we add value to that critical mineral extraction process, and develop those jobs here in Australia, so that we can develop the resources we need for the technologies of the future. Batteries are a great example of that.

But we also know that there’s enormous opportunity in the North West and in the Townsville region. I think the locals understand that too, and it’s great to be able to actually demonstrate what that means with this facility here today. So, it isn’t just talk, it’s a real-life demonstration of the jobs that are going to be created and I want to thank Art and the Graphinex team for the work that they’ve done on this proof of concept.

DALE LAST [QLD MINISTER]: Dale Last, Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development. It’s a great day for Townsville, and a better day for Graphinex with the opening of this facility here today, the Battery Anode Hub here in Townsville. What a great concept it is. It certainly sets the benchmark for critical mineral development in Queensland.

We know that we have abundant critical minerals in Queensland. We’ve been promoting our resources across the world. I met a delegation from the US back in February, and we made an introduction as a consequence of those meetings with Graphinex and US investors, and we’re here today opening this facility, moving ahead with the construction of the Esmeralda graphite project south of Croydon. Plus, of course, the jobs go with that – 100 jobs in construction, 113 jobs when it’s finalised. And, of course, the big news today is that it’s now a coordinated project.

The Coordinator-General is here today and it has been described as a coordinated project, which brings the whole-of-government resources to this project in terms of coordinating those approvals. And that will help to fast track this project to get up and running, providing those jobs that we need. This facility here behind me clearly demonstrates what we can achieve in this state when we value add. We don’t want to just mine critical minerals, and then ship them offshore for processing overseas. We want to develop that here in Queensland. We want to take it to that next step and provide that manufacturing capability, because that’s a good news story for Queensland. And, of course, extra jobs - we’ve got the know-how. We have the workforce, the skills, the stability, the regulatory regime, the policy settings to enable this to go ahead. And you only have to see today those business partners that will come on board with this project and give it a real shot of confidence going forward.

JOURNALIST: When can we expect the Croydon mine to actually open?

LAST: So, we’d like to see that open in the next 12 to 18 months, and we’re certainly working very hard with Graphinex to make that happen. It’s a big project. It’s an important project. But the fact that it’s now a coordinated project brings all those additional resources from the Coordinator-General’s office to the table.

JOURNALIST: So will this make North Queensland a world leader in the area of graphite?

LAST: Look, absolutely. This is the third biggest deposit of graphite in the world. And this is an exciting opportunity. We often talk about potential of critical minerals. But, as I say, I want to then turn that into production. This is a very, very good example of where we are doing exactly that – we’re taking one of our critical minerals – graphite – and we’re actually turning that into anodes. We’re turning that into materials that we can use going forward, and what a great opportunity that is. And this is just the start. We are really promoting this very heavily. Our critical minerals hub is based here in Townsville. We’ve just launched the Queensland Critical Minerals Prospectus, the latest update, of course, that clearly demonstrates we’re open for business in Queensland. We’re serious about this, and those investors, both nationally and internationally, come to Queensland if you want to do business, because you’ll find a government that will support you.

JOURNALIST: You mentioned the investors as well. How important is this facility?

LAST: Look, here is proof of concept. Here it is behind me in action. We’ve taken that ore and we’re turning it into battery anodes. It doesn’t get any better than that. And that’s what investors want to see. Time is money when it comes to investment. They want to see that this company has taken the next step. They’ve put their money where their mouth is. They’ve invested a lot of money in this equipment that’s behind me here. And some of this equipment is the only equipment of its type in Australia, and that’s allowing the production of batteries at this facility. This proves that this material can be utilised and we have the technology in Queensland to be able to produce battery anodes. And, of course, what a great news story.

JOURNALIST: The Opposition [indistinct] calling for delivery of Glencore [indistinct].

LAST: Can I say this: where were they when they were in government? We’ve gone back through the diaries of former Premier Palaszczuk and Shadow Minister Dick, and they didn’t have one meeting with Glencore regarding the closure of the copper smelter and the copper mine at Mount Isa. Not one. And the audacity to now turn up and demand action from this government and somehow make us believe that they are all of a sudden concerned about the future of Mount Isa is beyond belief.

But I want to assure the community of Mount Isa and, more to the point, I want to assure Queenslanders that we’re working very, very hard with Glencore. We’re working very, very hard in collaboration with the Federal Government to put in place a package that will enable that smelter to keep operating. We know that the copper smelter is crucial. It is absolutely crucial to the North West, especially going forward with a number of these copper projects that are coming online into the future. It goes to the point of why I’m here today. We want to be able to process that concentrate right here in Queensland. We’ve got a copper refinery in Townsville that provides several hundred jobs. They’re important jobs for this community. We want to secure their future. And we’re certainly working collaboratively with the Federal Government. We had a meeting this week, the Premier and I, with Glencore. We’ve got a follow-up meeting next week with Glencore to work out a proposal going forward that will allow that to happen.

JOURNALIST: The Prime Minister said on Tuesday that there’ll be a rescue package for Nyrstar, the refinery as well in Port Pirie. Is that something that is going to be considered in this case?

LAST: The Federal Government has provided a rescue package for a number of other smelters around Australia. And it is my hope that they will continue to engage in good faith, and certainly moving forward, so that we can put in place a rescue package for the copper smelter at Mount Isa. It is crucial, absolutely crucial, for the North West minerals province and for Queensland’s future in the resource sector.

JOURNALIST: Do we have a bit of a time frame as to when we will know?

LAST: Look, the clock is ticking. That’s why we’re having these meetings on a regular basis. We’re working through the detail with Glencore and the Federal Government. The Federal Minister, Tim Ayres, and I flew to Mount Isa a couple of weeks ago where we toured the mine site, we met with Glencore officials, we met with the Mayor of Mount Isa. We’re absolutely committed to finding a solution to this issue. And the fact that the Federal Government has provided a rescue package for a number of other smelters around Australia gives me hope that we’ll be able to secure a similar deal for Mount Isa.

JOURNALIST: Thank you.

LAST: Thanks, everyone.