Townsville battery materials plant given “prescribed project” status

A project that would process 1.5 million tonnes of ore into battery materials each year at Townsville has been given “prescribed project” status by the Queensland government. The Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) proposed by Queensland Pacific Metals (QPM) would be 40 kilometres south of the city, at the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct, and convert ore…

Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

ARENA to support regional renewable microgrids A new $50 million Australian Renewable Energy Agency fund will support the deployment of microgrids and renewable energy across regional Australia. First announced in the 2020-21 federal budget, the Regional Australia Microgrid Pilots Program (RAMPP) will fund pilot projects that demonstrate the potential for microgrids to benefit regional and…

Manufacturing employment back over 1 million for first time since 2009: ABS

The resilience of the manufacturing industry seen through 11 months of positive PMI results has translated into jobs growth, with employment higher now than at the beginning of the pandemic. Acting federal industry minister Angus Taylor said on Thursday that though COVID-19 restrictions were presenting difficulties, a strong result for the quarter had delivered 91,000…