First shipment of critical mineral after Port Pirie bailout
The 130-year-old Port Pirie smelter is sending off its first shipment of a critical mineral today, just over four months after a multi-million-dollar government bailout.
Nystar’s Port Pirie smelter is sending its first shipment of antimony to an east coast manufacturer in Australia this week, with plans to eventually export the sought-after metal to Europe, Asia and the United States.
Federal Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres along with SA Premier Peter Malinauskas and Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis are all in Port Pirie today to mark the milestone after the smelter first poured antimony in its demonstration plant during November last year.
It followed months of uncertainty for the struggling Nyrstar site, the state, federal and Tasmanian governments stepping in to pledge $135 million to a bail out of Port Pirie and Nyrstar’s zinc refinery in Hobart during August 2025.
Nyrstar has since started an $80 million upgrade of the SA facility that employs around 1050 people in the region and Malinauskas said the milestone shipment was the start of the previously financially challenged smelter reaching its export potential.
“This is South Australia pulling its weight in the global supply chain,” he said.
Port Pirie is the only place in Australia to produce antimony and Nystar was now expected to ramp up production to about 5000 tonnes per year by 2028.
Malinauskas flagged SA would soon produce other critical minerals like bismuth, tellurium, germanium and indium, which he says are “critical” to the clean energy transition, along with defence and technology industries.
Antimony production began as a trial in late 2025.
The 130-year-old smelter at Port Pirie was struggling financially prior to the joint investment earlier this year, with Nyrstar’s Singaporean owner Trafigura calling for government support in order to stay afloat.
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Federal Science, Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said the achievement “shows the value of government backing Aussie manufacturing and minerals processing capabilities to boost regional Australia’s role in the global critical mineral supply chain”.
“This is a great example of what can be achieved when we leverage Australia’s abundant natural resources, skilled workforce, existing facilities and innovative research to maximise opportunities,” Ayres said.
There has been global momentum building around critical minerals since the recently penned US-Australia Critical Minerals Framework – a joint $2 billion investment in 2025.
