BHP's Venus decision expected: workers
Leinster locals say workers in the northern Goldfields town were already resigned to BHP Billiton’s decision to suspend operations at the Venus nickel body.
About 60 people attended a public meeting organised by the company on Wednesday, with the message described by one source as “reassurances without any promises”.
The briefing did little to ease tensions which have persisted since the company’s unsuccessful effort to sell Nickel West began in May.
“People were expecting this,” one resident said.
“It has not come as a major shock — we’ve known for quite a while that things are not that great.”
The meeting followed BHP’s decision to stand down about 90 staff working to develop Venus, previously touted as one of the company’s most promising nickel deposits, just a day after the Kalgoorlie Miner revealed the company was abandoning the sale of its Nickel West assets.
Shire of Coolgardie president Mal Cullen, whose shire holds BHP’s Kambalda Nickel Concentrator, said he hoped for a swift resolution to the uncertainty around the future of Nickel West.
Mr Cullen said further cuts at Nickel West assets would have an effect on the whole region.
“We would like to see they keep all the mines and facilities operating, ” he said. “If there are significant redundancies in that area, it will have a big impact on the whole Goldfields, not just the Shire of Coolgardie.
“It has the flow-on effect; if those people are out of work there’s no other industry opening up at the moment to take up that slack.”
After the announcement on Wednesday, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder reached out to BHP Billiton in an effort to preserve jobs in the Goldfields.
Mayor Ron Yuryevich said yesterday he had contacted BHP to offer the council’s support.
However, he said he could not elaborate on the offer until he had spoken further with BHP.
“I’ve approached BHP to give them the support of council in regards to hopefully ensuring … the nickel smelter and nickel assets continue to operate in the Goldfields region, ” he said.
“So anything we can do on their behalf, we’re willing to do.”
