Grange Resources (Tasmania) Pty Ltd (Alternative Application Period) Bill 2026 (No. 3)

Thursday 16 April 2026

Ms ARMITAGE (Launceston) - Mr President, I, too, support this bill. I really appreciated the letter from Ben Maynard, the chief operating officer, along with the briefing papers that he provided. I think the reasons for supporting the bill have been fairly clearly outlined by the member for Murchison. Obviously, any lender needs certainty, which makes a lot of sense. I also noticed that the Savage River mine, which Grange Resources owns and runs, has been mined since the 1960s, with the project starting in 1967. It's certainly been a long period of time that it's been going.

As Ben Maynard says in his letter to us, 'prospective lenders have made it clear that they cannot support a major underground investment while a lease tenure expires before debt repayment,' which is common sense. 'Without early renewal, Grange cannot proceed with the project required to maintain operations beyond the current open pit life. Proposed underground transition is intended to secure continuity of operations employment,' which we know is extremely important, particularly in the west coast - or anywhere in Tasmania, but especially the north‑west and west coast, 'and economic activity in Tasmania's north‑west, while moving to a lower impact mining method. Early application for renewal is an enabling step, not a determination on any future approval.' As I said, providing the concise briefing paper is very useful, so I have no problem supporting the bill.