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Tasmania's Avebury Nickel Mine closes as price crashes, 200 workers left uncertain

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Buildings on a cleared area of bush with a mountain in the background
Avebury nickel mine site on Tasmanian's west coast, September 2022.(ABC News: Maren Preuss)

Tasmania's Avebury Nickel Mine will be mothballed once more, just 17 months after it reopened.

It's the latest victim in a slew of closures across Western Australia, in the wake of a 50 per cent decline in global nickel prices since last year.

Receiver KordaMentha today announced the mine would transition into a care and maintenance program, effectively throwing out 200 jobs.

Mine owner Mallee Resources Limited Group of Companies entered receivership last year, but remained in operation while it unsuccessfully looked for a buyer.

Receiver Scott Langdon blamed an oversupply of low-quality nickel from Indonesia, which he said made higher cost ores from Australian mines uncompetitive.

"Without structural change in the market to properly value low carbon, battery grade nickel, local mine operations will continue to be disadvantaged compared to their competitors," he said.

It follows the closure of four nickel mines in the last month in Western Australia, which triggered "crisis talks" between the state and federal governments, industry leaders, and unions.

West Coast council Mayor Shane Pitt said the closure of the mine, which sits 10 kilometres outside of Zeehan, would be "devastating" for the community.

"This is going to have an impact for week, months and years ahead for Avebury workers and our wider region," he said.

"We need our state government to step up and stand side-by-side with us in these tough times."

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Resources Minister Felix Ellis said they would "leave no stone unturned" to assist those impacted by the decision to close the mine.

Tasmanian shadow minister for resources Shane Broad said he was concerned the affected workers' entitlements would get caught up in a lengthy legal process.

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