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Mining (Rural)

Goldfields miners sniff an opportunity in the wind

The state's resource-rich Goldfields region has been swept up in the global push to renewable energy, with billions in mining investment driving the development of six wind farms.
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Construction workers building footings for wind turbines at remote mine site.

Environmentalist slams approval of one of largest proposed greenfield coal mines

Whitehaven Coal's Winchester South coal mine in central Queensland's Bowen Basin plans to extract up to 17 million tonnes of coal a year for about 30 years.
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Mine infrastructure in a coalfield.

'Another knife in the back': Hundreds of miners face uncertain future as NSW colliery closes

The closure of the Russell Vale mine in Wollongong prompts calls for miners to be given better re-employment options.
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Two men wearing blue shirts stand with crossed arms

Struggling nickel sector asks for urgent support, but analysts say 'folly' to give a taxpayer-funded lifeline

Nickel prices have plummeted in recent months due to a glut in the market, but some analysts say it's part of the "boom and bust" nature of the industry.
Two Caucasian hands holding a large rock, person wearing jeans and hello and grey mining shirt, dirt and grass behind.

Critical minerals company flags plans to open Australia's first commercial fluorite mine in WA

Australian mining company Tivan shares its plans to mine fluorite in the Kimberley in an announcement to the ASX, following the material's recent addition to the national critical minerals list.
A worker lifts the top off a large grey and black battery.

Production cuts on the cards at WA's biggest lithium mine as critical minerals slump continues

It is the latest in a run of negative news for the critical minerals sector in Western Australia as an analysts warns reduced production at the lithium mine is a bad sign for smaller producers.
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Crushed spodumene ore at the Talison Lithium mine in Greenbushes

Port Hedland air quality in spotlight, with dust levels exceeding guidelines 65 times in six months

Living just six kilometres from one of the world's largest bulk export ports in Western Australia, Roger Higgins is used to a bit of dust. But he says recent levels are the worst he has seen in his 12 years in the town.
Huge mining machinery with houses in the foreground.

Missing FIFO worker's vehicle was meant to have tracker installed next week

The employer of a fly-in fly-out worker found two days after crashing his work vehicle in remote Western Australia says the utility was due to have a tracking device installed next week.
A man climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Major crash unit investigating after missing FIFO worker is found dead in regional WA

WA police confirm 33-year-old fly-in-fly-out worker Ambrose Walton, missing in the Pilbara region since Tuesday, has been found dead after his vehicle crashed near an unsealed access road.
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Photos of a Toyota Hilux and a man supplied by WA Police

Plummeting critical mineral prices are causing near panic. What's behind it and what comes next?

Plummeting critical mineral prices have pushed WA's major industry players to mothball their mines, workers to lose jobs and the government to all but panic. What's the fallout and what comes next?
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Ardea Goongarrie Hub rock

With mines closing and FIFO jobs on the line, WA's government throws a lifeline to nickel miners

Nickel miners could pay less to mine in WA, as the government holds crisis talks with the resources industry as mines shut and hundreds of jobs are lost.
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A person holds a handfull of ground nickel

Land and air search underway for Canadian FIFO worker missing in remote Pilbara

Ambrose Walton, described as having a strong Canadian accent, was last seen near Tom Price on Tuesday and never turned up to meet a friend in Karratha.
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Photos of a Toyota Hilux and a man supplied by WA Police

Rio Tinto to buy all electricity produced by Australia's largest solar project

If the Upper Calliope Solar Farm in central Queensland is approved, mining giant Rio Tinto will use the electricity generated to power its operations in Gladstone. But some locals want more detail about the project.
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The QAL alumina refinery from the air

Kambalda nickel mines to close less than a year after $760m sale

More than 250 mining jobs are set to be affected by the closure of another operation in WA's once-booming nickel industry as prices slump.
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mine worker with nickel ore

Another critical minerals blow as US lithium giant scales back Kemerton expansion in WA

US lithium giant Albemarle has announced it will cut jobs and scale back an expansion of its refinery WA's South West amid a downturn in the sector.
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Kemerton plant

Job cuts at Ravensthorpe nickel mine in WA bring sense of deja vu to nearby residents

Hopetoun locals brace for the impact of another wave of job losses, after First Quantum Minerals moves to suspend activities at its Ravensthorpe nickel operation on the state's south coast.
He stands in front of a grain silo

Central Queensland community mourns death of coal mine worker

A 27-year-old coal mine worker has died at the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance's Saraji mine following a vehicle-related incident. 
ABC News Current
Duration: 1 minute 25 seconds

Mount Isa Mines celebrates 100 trailblazing years, but end of copper era looms

The outback company helped with the war effort in the 1940s, established a vital railway and fostered a rural multicultural melting pot while transforming the industry with constant innovation.
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A black and white photo of an outback mining town

Worker, 27, dies after being pinned between vehicles at Queensland mine

Luke O'Brien from Mackay suffered multiple critical injuries. Investigations are underway and operations at the Bowen Basin site have been suspended.
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A coal mine in the outback on a bleak-looking day.

Another blow for WA's nickel boom as Ravensthorpe mine suspends mining

The owner of the Ravensthorpe nickel operation on WA's south coast says it will suspend mining and cut 30 per cent of its 420-strong workforce. 
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An aerial shot of the closed Ravensthorpe nickel mine

How 'the wildest race for riches since the gold rush' really unfolded in the 1970s

Hollywood depicts it as miners brandishing rifles and bulldozers clashing amid exploding outhouses, but locals say that version has taken poetic licence. Here's what really happened during the 1970s, when interest in Australia's gems exploded.
A landscape shot of men, women and children sifting through dirt

WA gold mine suspends processing operations after tailings dam cracks detected

Newmont's Telfer gold mine is forced to suspend processing after "cracking and seeping" is detected at a tailings dam, about 200 kilometres east of Marble Bar.
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Night shot of the processing plant at Telfer gold mine, lit up against a deep blue sky.

As Australian nickel's shine wears off, 140 workers are being made redundant at a Kimberley mine

Panoramic Resources plans to axe 140 on-site jobs as it winds up the Savannah nickel mine in Western Australia, with the price of the base metal falling by more than 44 per cent in the past year.
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A worker sits in high vis with remote controls in front of screens to control mining trucks remotely

Impact of Alcoa refinery closure laid bare as cost to WA economy put at $650 million annually

As US mining giant Alcoa says it will close its refinery in Kwinana in Perth's south, an expert warns the hit to Western Australia's economy will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
An aerial shot of an aluminum refinery in Kwinana

1,000 workers face job losses in Alcoa's refinery closure

The US mining giant says the Kwinana refinery has become too costly to run and will be shut down over the next two years.
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ABC News Current
Duration: 2 minutes