LEON COMPTON: Madeleine King's the Federal Resources Minister. Minister, good morning to you.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Good morning, Leon, how are you this morning?

LEON COMPTON: I'm excellent, thank you. Copper prices are at record highs. Are you hearing anything about the prospect that this mine in Queenstown could be re-opening in 2026?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, Mount Lyell - the mine, it's a really important deposit, there's no doubt about it. And it's one of the oldest mines in the country, if not one of the oldest mines in the country. And as you said earlier, it was closed because there were some really serious accidents which, you know, tragically ended in the deaths of workers, and that's really important to acknowledge. It's been something they've had to overcome and make sure that the mine is safe. But whether it's copper prices or making sure the mine is a good, sound operation that is safe, both for worker safety but also for the environment, is a really important part of this. And I heard the Mayor, Shane Pitt, speak earlier, and what he said is right; the copper prices are on the up, copper is increasingly recognised as really important to a clean energy future, and electrification of our system, so, you know, I really   I'm optimistic too about there being those 200 workers back on site in the future. There's a bit of a road to go, I must admit --

LEON COMPTON: Is there any role you can play in paving that road, Minister?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, I'll be talking to the owners actually later today about what we can do to assist them in getting this mine back on its feet and operating and having those workers in place. So, you know, we're going to investigate that. What I know is that they are always in talks with the Federal Government as to what needs to happen and what support might be available. But I think the Mayor is right, it's prices of copper on the outside that, you know, in the open market that will dictate most of its viability. But we will certainly look at what we can do to help.

LEON COMPTON: Minister, could we follow up, so Sibanye-Stillwater are the owners of the mine, it's changed hands a couple of times. Can we follow up with your office and find out what you learnt off the back of those conversations about the prospects for the mine re opening after the meeting today?  

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I'd be more than happy to do that, Leon, absolutely. We'll make sure we speak to you and your team and let you know how that goes.

LEON COMPTON: We follow the story of Group 6 Metals and their Tungsten operation on King Island closely on the Mornings program. With much fanfare it re-opened the place to mining a few years back and then suspended themselves from the ASX over a year ago. You're going to King Island, will you be investigating the Tungsten mining operations at Dolphin Sands?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yep, I'm - yep, pardon me. Yeah, I am going to go to King Island tomorrow, I'm very much looking forward to it. The story of Tungsten is remarkable, and the Dolphin mine there is one of only two Tungsten mines in Australia, the other one being in Queensland. So I'll be speaking, you know, to the owners, going to have a look at the mine, there's 100 employees there. So obviously what you said about them falling off the ASX, that was because they failed to do some of the documentation, and that documentation is really important because it's accountability for ASX listed companies. So I'm well aware that they are addressing that problem. I have every confidence they'll get back on track. But you know that paperwork is really important, that's why we have these regulations. But Tungsten is a critical mineral, it is vital to the future of our national security for our country and the systems we need in defence, but also to our friends and allies in the US and Japan, et cetera. So, Tungsten will be a really important part of the mineral exports off Tasmania, and those workers that do get to work on the Dolphin mine can be really a part of our national security effort because Tungsten will form part of that.

LEON COMPTON: Madeleine King's our guest, Federal Resources Minister, 936 ABC Radio Hobart, ABC North Tas. Jenny Weber's sent in a question for you this morning, Minister, from Blackmans Bay, and it was certainly on our list, Clancy Balen's done some good reporting on this on the ABC website you can have a look at as well if you're listening in this morning. "Please ask the Minister will the Federal Government require MMG to use their viable alternative tailings storage facility offered by Renison, it would mean one less tailings dump on West Coast?" And that's from Jenny Weber. There is an alternative tailings dam proposal for MMG at Rosebery. There have been long delays in approving the initial proposal. Will you get involved there, Minister, so that MMG know what their future looks like?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah, Jenny's question is a really good one, and this has been going on for some time. The Rosebery mine is an important deposit as well, it's a zinc mine with small quantities of gold and copper, also a long standing mine. And these mines do need those tailings dams, and we need the tailings dams to be very secure; one, very importantly for the environment in which they sit. But also what we've found with a lot of our mines right around the country is those tailings dams become the next mine themselves as we discover what we can bring out of those, what was waste and make it useful again. So there's multiple uses for those dams. But really importantly, for the MMG mine is that they have found a new proposal for where they put that really important tailings dam to make the mine viable, and there's no doubt they'll be looking at that, and it will require all the correct approvals of Government. So it's going to be really important that that progresses along the proper regulatory path, and I have every confidence it will.

LEON COMPTON: Minister, is this another example of where decisions for yes or no get delayed and delayed and delayed under your Government's management of the tension between resource interests and environmental interests? We've seen this happen with so many, with Macquarie Harbour, with wind farms in the northwest. Is this another example of where it just takes too long?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, I wouldn't say that. I think it's been really important for MMG as the owner of the Rosebery mine to talk more with the community, to listen to the community and to hear those concerns, and they're really valid concerns. If mining operations don't have community support, widespread community support, they'll face strong head winds, so they don't really want that. To be productive and part of the community they need to work with the community and the community concerns around the environment. So, I think it's important what MMG have done, they've taken on community feedback. And it does take a while to do mine design, there's no doubt about it, just in the mining engineering and so forth. But it's really important for government to be well aware of community concern, which we are, and we support all the resources projects that stack up economically, socially and environmentally. So, what is really important is that MMG will take their new proposal through our national environmental laws, which we have reformed, and we needed to reform to make it more efficient for both the State Governments, our Federal Government, but also for the environment itself and for project proponents.

LEON COMPTON: Okay.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: So, I'm confident this will work through the system well, and I, you know, take my hat off to MMG for listening and the people that have made their concerns well known about the environment. They've every right to do that and they should be congratulated too.

LEON COMPTON: In Clancy's reporting on this, I think he's saying that the Bob Brown Foundation have said they wouldn't oppose the alternative site given that it's better than the one that was initially proposed, Mornings Around Tasmania - Madeleine King is our guest this morning. Unless I've misread read it, the Federal Government, your government, launched the Australian critical minerals prospectus recently, 49 mines, 29 midstream critical minerals processing projects ready for investment. Unless I've misread it, Minister, none of those were in Tasmania. Why not?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, I think that is because you have some already invested in, and I mean obviously Tasmania does have - it's simply smaller than some of the other provinces that have more mines that need investing. But right now the Dolphin mine is the main critical minerals deposit in Tasmania, and that's got most of its financing, so it doesn't need to go into a prospectus, it's well established. Obviously, there's this hiccup with the ASX listing, so it doesn't really need to be on the prospectus. So that's the way I would look at this and indeed do look at this. The projects in the prospectus are around those projects that don't have that investment there yet, so they need to be promoted around the world.

But what I would say around Tasmanian mining is, some people don't think of Tasmania as a resources province, and perhaps they don't also want to, but the truth of it is there's about 500 mining leases in this State, and the mining production is valued at more than $2 billion each year. It employs over 5,000 people, that's direct jobs. That means there's many more indirect jobs around it, and that coexists really well with the environment and people's environmental concerns. And while we have issues that come up, like the MMG Rosebery tailings dam, you know, that has gone through a sort of I guess a democratic process of objection and peaceful protests, and it looks like it will get to a good space. There's a fair way to go I'll admit, and that's really important for Tasmania's future, so that it can keep attracting that investment to continue this mining activity. And that mining activity has to be safe for the workers and for the environment in what is such a pristine part of our country.

LEON COMPTON: Madeleine King, appreciate you talking to us this morning. Enjoy your time in Tasmania. We'll follow up and find out what you learn about any plans by Sibanye-Stillwater to reopen copper mines of Tasmania's operation on the West Coast.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Thanks Leon, it's just beautiful to be here in Burnie, and with the wonderful Anne Urquhart as member for Braddon, so I'm just super pleased to be here and getting around over the next couple of days so thanks so much for having me on.

LEON COMPTON: Madeleine King, Federal Resources Minister.