The Western Australia Government has announced that it will allocate $15 million for interest-free loans to help the state’s nickel miners in operation, supporting the potential restart of idled mines and the ramp-up of new projects.
The state said that the initiative aims to “provide further confidence” for the industry as sentiment and prices for the steel-making commodity and battery metal improve.
The loans will be repayment-free until either July 1 2028, or until nickel prices exceed $US22,000 per tonne, for two consecutive quarters.
Mines and Petroleum Minister David Michael said that in addition to the jobs and export sales nickel provides, the industry is an essential component of WA’s vision of “becoming a global hub” for the downstream processing of battery metals.
“Our nickel miners are competing internationally with mining jurisdictions that have significantly lower environmental, social, and governance standards,” Michael said.
“It’s important that they are supported to weather the storm of current market conditions and get back to what they do best, so they can be part of ongoing and future efforts to decarbonise the globe.”
Western Australia, alongside the wider nickel industry, experienced challenging global market conditions in the last few years, which have prompted mine and processing plant suspensions and significantly impacted jobs.
It was noted by the Australian Financial Review earlier this year that the metal has since hit a 15-month high, after prices were trading below 2022 levels following a short squeeze that pushed nickel to nearly US$55,000 a tonne.
The WA government said that prices and market outlook for the metal have improved in recent months.
The interest-free repayments will be in quarterly instalments over a two-year period, following the conclusion of the interest-free period.
“The no-interest loan initiative represents sensible, responsible and targeted support to help WA’s nickel industry get back on its feet,” Michael said.
Details on the loan facility, eligibility criteria, application process and maximum loan per miner will be developed by the Department of Energy and Economic Development in consultation with the Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration and the Department of Treasury and Finance.
