JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!

New industry announcements applauded by shire president

JOB creating projects announced last week are the most significant occurences in Collie's transition away from coalfired power, according to shire president Sarah Stanley.

Cr Stanley told councillors on Tuesday night that the Magnium and Green Steel of WA projects represented an opportunity to replace like-for-like jobs in the coal mining and power generation industries.

The projects have the potential to generate some 600 jobs, according to the State Government.

Cr Stanley said the projects had the potential to "cement Collie's future”.

“These are two projects that show real opportunity for the industrial workforce,” Cr Stanley said.

“We should be talking about it a lot.” She said the government agencies and people who put in a lot of work to get the projects to their current milestone stages should be “really applauded” by the community.

Premier Mark McGowan last week announced that a $5 million grant will support Magnium Australia’s pilot plant for a proposed net-zero magnesium refinery and $2.7 million for a "bankable" Green Steel feasibility study.

Magnium plans to develop the $18 million plant to produce high-purity magnesium metal.

Situated in Collie’s light industrial area, the plant will enable commercial-scale testing of Magnium’s CSIRO-developed technology, with the capacity to scale up to producing 800 tonnes of magnesium metal.

Magnium is ultimately working towards the development of a large-scale magnesium refinery based in Collie.

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