But disruption isn’t unusual for the community. It’s the second time in 15 years the lithium mine has been mothballed.<\/p>\n
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Ravensthorpe is about 500 kilometres south-east of Perth. (Supplied: Bewley Shaylor)<\/p>\n
Beyond the mine closure, there have been floods<\/a>, fires<\/a>, a plane crash<\/a> and a sex scandal<\/a> that engulfed the local council.<\/p>\n Lifelong Ravensthorpe local and shire president Tom Major said the run of adversity highlighted the strength of people in the town.<\/p>\n “Look, we are a resilient community and it’s just another page in the chapter of where we live,” he said.<\/p>\n Tom Major, pictured with one of the region’s tourist attractions, the painted silos, (ABC Esperance: Tara de Landgrafft)<\/p>\n “We’ll soldier on. The agricultural industry is going really well, we’re having a reasonable season, and the tourists just keep coming, so that industry is doing well.<\/p>\n “It’s not the first mine closure we’ve had and it won’t be the last either.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Long lead time<\/p>\n This most recent mine closure hasn’t come as a surprise, with former owners Arcadium Lithium flagging the project for care and maintenance in September last year.<\/p>\n Mr Major said unlike previous project closures, which happened almost overnight, the extended process had allowed the council to assess its priorities.<\/p>\n The long lead time has given about 110 workers time to look for other jobs, with many staying in the community thanks to an improvement in services like NBN.<\/p>\n “There have been people leave the community and school numbers are down a little bit, so I wouldn’t say we’ve come through unaffected,” Mr Major said.<\/p>\n “We’ve got some of the some of the best fibre-to-the-premise internet you can get.<\/p>\n “So we are seeing people move here that can work remotely or have online businesses, that sort of thing.”<\/p>\n In addition to mining, the town has agriculture and tourism. (ABC Esperance: Tara de Landgrafft)<\/p>\n Turning to tourism<\/p>\n Cheap and available housing, strong agriculture and a burgeoning tourism sector are also keeping the local economy ticking along.<\/p>\n The influx of new people and a move towards showing off the region’s unique features is spurring on Sue Leighton, chair of the newly formed Ravensthorpe tourism advisory group.<\/p>\n Sue Leighton says tourism will be important to the region’s future. (ABC Esperance: Tara de Landgrafft)<\/p>\n “The community is sort of used to mining coming and going \u2026 and we have been eased into this,” Ms Leighton said.<\/p>\n She said the tourism sector would be pivotal in ensuring the region’s survival.<\/p>\n The Hopetoun local said now there was no active mining in the region, there was a chance to re-focus, and that the community remained open to new possibilities.<\/p>\n “There’s always activity for mining, for exploration and research,” Ms Leighton said.<\/p>\n “The townspeople are very resilient and look if new new mine starts up, we’ll welcome all those people to come into town.<\/p>\n “Then if they go again, we’ll be sad that they’re gone, but we’ve made good friends.”<\/p>\n The Shire of Ravensthorpe has recently finished its cultural precinct in the centre of town. (ABC Esperance: Tara de Landgrafft)<\/p>\n Closure plan unique<\/p>\n Community consultation over the shutdown began almost 12 months ago, before any announcement that the project would be placed on care and maintenance.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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