• Media Release

Media Statement on the CTSCo Project

The Minerals Council of Australia is disappointed with today’s decision to disallow Glencore’s CTSCo project.

The CTSCo project represented one of Australia’s most advanced onshore Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage initiatives.

The CTSCo project was an R&D initiative involving a test injection that was designed to inject CO2 at depths of over two kilometres into the subsurface where it would be permanently trapped.

If successful, the project would need to seek new permits for any further work. Similar projects have been conducted successfully around the world for over 30 years.

It is understandable that there are concerns about potential impacts on the local community.

However, from the outset the CTSCo project has been grounded in robust scientific fieldwork, comprehensive data, and rigorous analysis, with input from expert third-party institutions.

The extensive modelling carried out by Glencore demonstrated that the CO2 test injection would have no impact on agricultural or human use of ground water.

This work was reviewed and endorsed by the Australian Government Independent Expert Scientific Committee (IESC), the Office of Groundwater Impact Assessment (OGIA), and CSIRO, who concluded that the impacts would be local and minor.

Both the International Energy Agency and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change state that CCUS technologies are essential if the world is to achieve its 2050 net zero target

There isn’t a single credible pathway to net zero emissions that doesn’t include a role for CCUS, making projects like CTSCo critical for our future.

It is unfortunate that some third parties with interests far removed from the test injection site have sought to influence the outcome of this important project using misinformation and fear.

This sets a dangerous precedent for the further development of onshore CCUS projects in Australia, potentially holding back our progress towards a low-carbon future while also protecting the jobs and economic security that Australia’s mining industry has created.

The MCA strongly believes that supporting a future for mining must go hand-in-hand with supporting credible and safe CCUS projects, and that discussions about CCUS technology should always grounded in fact and reflect sound science.

 

ENDS