A bill has passed the South Australian Parliament to help secure a proposed $ 350 million redevelopment of the Nyrstar lead and zinc smelter at Port Pirie.
The legislation has been supported by both major parties in the Legislative Council.
It gives the State Government final say over any changes to the smelter’s operating licence, rather than the Environment Protection Authority.
Manufacturing Minister Tom Kenyon says final approval of the redevelopment now rests with Nyrstar.
“The Government’s done pretty much everything we can now to provide all the approvals and the assistance to the company that we can, but really now it’s up to them and they’ve got to go through their feasibility process and then they’ve got to make their decision,” he said.
“Obviously we’d be optimistic about that, we’re looking forward to them making a positive decision, but we’ll have to wait and see.
The independent state MP for Port Pirie, Geoff Brock, says parliamentary support for the proposed smelter redevelopment is an important step.
Mr Brock hopes passage of the legislation will help sway Nyrstar to proceed.
“I would hope that that would show the board that we are very united, not only from the Government and the Parliament’s point of view but from the community’s point of view to make certain that we want that new plant,” he said.
Dangerous emissions from the smelter have long been a health concern at Port Pirie.
Passage of the legislation came on the same day staff at the smelter were told of the sudden departure from the company of general manager Glenn Poynter.
United States Nyrstar executive Craig Jetson is to act in the Port Pirie role until a permanent replacement is found.
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