Nearly 400 new mines could open by 2035 to meet demand for the minerals used in global electrification. Better recycling can help with supply, but mining’s impacts will have to be better managed.
the end of the mining boom has breathed new life into parts of the Tasmanian economy. But there are also several worrying indicators – like population growth and unemployment – to be addressed.
Western Australia posted enviable growth numbers for a long time. But the trend is now going the wrong way, and unless something is done soon there will be difficult times ahead.
How WA managed to emerge from the mining boom with an estimated debt burden of $40 billion is one of the West’s great mysteries. Or not, if you bother to look more closely.
The mining industry is more resilient because of the recent downturn and it will be global supply and demand that will affect these companies in the future.
In the 1960s, with the phosphate boom over and Nauru’s economy in ruins, Australia offered to move the entire nation to Queensland’s Curtis Island. But with no sovereignty on offer, the deal collapsed.
Since the 1960s, environmentalism in Australia has largely focused on defending “wilderness”. However, protected areas in themselves are not stemming the destruction of biodiversity.
Nauruans used to be some of the richest people in the world, before their mining industry imploded. Now, as the island aims to develop sustainably, there are signs of the green shoots of recovery.
Rehabilitating old mines is a crucial responsibility for the industry. But many Australian mine sites have been simply left alone or left for the taxpayer to fix.
In comedy timing is everything. So, too, in politics. In good times governing is – or ought to be – pretty straightforward. How hard can it be to divide up the windfall gains from a mining boom, for example…