Click the video above for an overview of the third day of the North West Queensland road trip for Townsville Enterprise CEO Patricia O'Callaghan and Director - Policy & Investment Wayde Chiesa, which included:
- Incitec Pivot Fertilisers Phosphate Hill manufacturing plant tour and operations discussion
- Cloncurry Shire Council meeting with Mayor and Councillors
On the third day of our North West Queensland Road Trip we have travelled from Julia Creek to Cloncurry in the middle of the heartland of the North West Minerals Province. Here we had the opportunity to see firsthand the comprehensive and important operations of Incitec Pivot Fertilisers' Phosphate Hill manufacturing plant.
The Incitec Pivot Fertilisers' Phosphate Hill operations is a clear example of how connected the North is. Acid is not only railed out to the plant from Townsville based refinery Sun Metals, but also from the Incitec Pivot plant in Mount Isa, where it is then mixed with mined phosphate rock, processed and converted into fertiliser at Phosphate Hill.
Every year one million tonnes of that fertiliser is then railed back out along the Mount Isa to Townsville Rail Line through to the Port of Townsville and loaded onto ships for transport to east coast of Australia ports. From here it is distributed to our farmers to grow their crops and feed Australians and people around the world. Out of season, fertilisers are transported globally to support agriculture in international markets.
This operation is case and point on how connected the north is and how significantly this region contributes to the Australian agricultural industry. It’s only day three and it is very clear to see that this region is more than mining. It supplies fertiliser to feed the world, copper for power generation, gold to make jewellery, lead for our car batteries, and zinc towards protecting metals from rusting, to name just some.
With Australia grappling with an economy on life support, we need to strongly look at how we can turbocharge precincts such as the North West Minerals Province to not only unlock jobs immediately but also contribute to the future of this nation.
