00:00A new process at a century-old smelter to produce critical metals in demand globally.
00:09This is probably worth a few squillion.
00:11Federal and state leaders were in Port Pirie, two hours north of Adelaide,
00:15to inspect the country's only lead smelter and announced the taxpayer-funded rescue package.
00:21We're investing in a future capability to insure and to insulate the smelting operations from global forces that are beyond our control.
00:29The funding a lifeline for the 1,400 direct workers at the two plants, including 900 in Port Pirie.
00:36It'll give those opportunities for people to start, you know, planning a little bit more future.
00:41In June, Nearstar said it was losing tens of millions each month and needed help within weeks, pointing to China's market distortion for its problems.
00:50If you just talk to the locals around, just asking them how, you know, what the pressure that's put on there.
00:54You know, everyone's got bills to pay, everyone's got a livelihood to look after.
00:59The cash injection, to be matched by the smelter's parent company, Trafigura, will be used to modernise the two plants,
01:06and fund a study into the production of critical metals like antimony.
01:11Products like this, antimony, are absolutely vital, particularly in global defence supply chains.
01:21The government says the Port Pirie smelter could produce up to 40 per cent of America's antimony needs, and says there's scope to produce other critical metals in Hobart.
01:32The funding package means jobs in Port Pirie and Hobart are safe in the short term.
01:37But it's not a guarantee of long term success.
01:41The feasibility projects will take at least two years.
01:45If they stack up, Trafigura and Nearstar will be back negotiating with governments, looking to fund transformations of the plants.
01:54It's not the bailout of a single company. It is actually the states and the Commonwealth coming together to determine what our industrial capability looks like going forward,
02:06and how important smelting is to our nation.
02:09An investment in Australian capability, and in the towns that rely on it.
02:13.
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