But there are still plenty of discussions to be had and a raft of stakeholders that will need to all agree before the 8km of railway running across the undeveloped Tower Hill deposit in Leonora can be shifted.
“The State Government is engaging with Genesis Minerals and a number of other stakeholders including Arc Infrastructure on the proposal to shorten the railway line at Leonora,” a spokeswoman said when approached for comment about the plan by The West Australian.
“There are a number of stakeholders that need to agree for this to happen and discussions are ongoing.”
Mr Finlayson was upbeat in front of a Macquarie Australia Conference audience last month about the momentum behind the plan, which will be crucial if the listed mining company is to one day become a 400,000 ounce-a-year gold producer.
The company is busy ramping up mining at the famed Gwalia gold mine — about 2km south of Tower Hill — bought from former owner St Barbara as part of a menagerie of deals in the region Mr Finlayson has linked up in the past few years.
A LinkedIn post shared by Genesis Minerals earlier this year showed Transport Minister and Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti had visited the Gwalia mine about two months ago.
“The proposal appears to have merit and in particular, the proposal would help create new economic activity and jobs in the area,” a State Government spokeswoman said.
“These discussions are ongoing and agreement needs to be reached between a number of parties.”
Among those parties are BHP Nickel West and Glencore, who did not provide comment regarding rail line negotiations.
Lynas Rare Earths responded by referencing Brookfield Infrastructure-owned Arc Infrastructure’s intention to work with the State Government so there was no impact to operations.
It comes as more than 2500 jobs hang in the balance at BHP’s Nickel West operations, with the miner to decide whether it shutters the operation by August. Wyloo Metals shut its Kambalda nickel operations earlier this year, and IGO closed the Cosmos mine in Leinster — both costing hundreds of jobs.
Arc operates and maintains the State’s rail freight network under a lease with the WA Government.
Going off a timeline provided in a March update Tower Hill would be up delivering first ore by 2028. Genesis is also working towards a mining agreement with local Traditional Owners, the Darlot.
