Three decades ago, somebody decided to hoard a worthless pile of sand. Now it’s a billion-dollar stockpile that will help wean Australia off Chinese rare earths.
Every day for the past 29 years, Geoff Dyer has watched beige to black “monazite” sands being poured into a big hole at Eneabba in Western Australia.
Mining companies often cite “the time value of money” when explaining why it’s better to sell something today for a dollar, rather than two dollars tomorrow. to Iluka to help it build a refinery that will turn Eneabba’s monazite into separated rare earth oxides, and help wean Australia and its defence allies off Chinese supply.
“The first time you see the monazite pit, it can be underwhelming to a degree, but it has so much value, like, it is sand with a bright future and attitude,” says Dyer with palpable excitement in his voice. “To see a future that the town can now build on – and the broader midwest and Australia – on the back of rare earths is exciting.”
“I don’t know whether it was an individual or a team [that decided to hoard the monazite], but you would like to know who it was and throw them a few dollars now,” he joked, of the mystery. If anyone should be credited with setting the wheels in motion toward an Australian rare earths refinery at Eneabba, perhaps it should be Sir Charles Court.As WA premier in 1975, Court legislated a state agreement that gave Iluka’s antecedents permission to mine at Eneabba, but only on the grounds they “pursue actively and progressively a policy leading ultimately to the processing in Western Australia of heavy minerals to the maximum degree possible.
“The thinking was that raw commodity players are always price takers and not price setters, so revenues can be very cyclical.” The EPA was particularly concerned about the low-level radioactive elements in monazite – such as uranium and thorium – which would be left behind if the rare earths including neodymium, praseodymium, cerium were extracted.
But the proponent was opposed to the Narngulu idea, citing difficulties in managing multiple sites and potential community relations challenges linked to transporting the radioactive material by public roads. The EPA noted “significant concern in the local community” about the Pinjarra refinery, yet gave its blessing to the project in 1996 with strict conditions.
“In the quarterly report just released, there is mention of an Eneabba project, which is a tailings project looking to capitalise on a monazite tailings stockpile,” said Reid, according to a Bloomberg transcript of the event. But O’Leary’s answer to Reid that day shows that, as of April 2019, Iluka was not spruiking the full-blown, billion-dollar rare earths refinery plan that it is developing today.
Over the next two years, Iluka would sell 106.8 tonnes of lightly processed Eneabba concentrate containing about 20 per cent monazite. One person close to the process says they can’t discuss whether defence agencies were involved in the push for a federally funded, domestic rare earths refinery, saying they are limited by “all the reasons you can imagine”.
“It sort of organically came together [between Iluka and the Morrison government] to look at producing rare earth oxides,” says the source, in reference to the form of rare earths that will be produced by the Eneabba refinery.whether it had encouraged the Morrison government and Export Finance Australia to help fund a refinery at Eneabba.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Aussie paddlers on top of world champs medal tally after bagging three goldThe Australian squad claims three gold among a haul of five medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Germany.
Read more »
The DJ who travelled three continents to make people smileInternational DJ Just Dizle has zigzagged across Europe, the Americas and Africa on a mission to bring a smile to people's faces with his new song Feelin Alive.
Read more »
Florida police say man who shot three people in store may have been 'racially motivated'Police say the man had authored 'several manifestos' before barricading himself in a Jacksonville shop and killing three black people.
Read more »
Ukrainian pilot ‘Juice’ among three killed in jet collision, says Volodymyr ZelenskiyTwo L-39 training planes came down west of Kyiv, says air force, with Andriy Pilshchykov, advocate of Ukraine getting F-16s, among the dead
Read more »
Canberra Raiders forward cops three-week ban; Brisbane Broncos star suspended: NRL Judiciary wrapRaiders forward cops three-week ban; Broncos star suspended: Judiciary wrap
Read more »
Three-year-olds should have access to 30 hours of preschool: Gillard reportNo Australian jurisdiction offers 30 hours of preschool a week for three-year-olds. But a royal commission led by Julia Gillard has found all children benefit from two years of high-quality care before they start school.
Read more »