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| Cape Flattery sand-dunes |
What follows is a transcript of my story in today's (23 March, 2026) edition of The Australian newspaper. Pics of Cape Flattery by Diatreme Resources.
A company headed by Labor powerbroker Wayne Swan given approval by the Albanese Government to fast-track a $10 billion project to mine silica sand to turbocharge the domestic solar energy industry will instead be exporting the product to Chinese and other foreign buyers.
The Northern Silica Project planned at Cape Flattery on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula by Brisbane-based Diatreme Resources was awarded Major Project Status last June by Industry Minister Tim Ayres, who promised the project would boost Australia's renewables sector.
The company has signed up to supply the silica to one of China's biggest solar energy product suppliers. A second renewables project connected to Mr Swan, the $11 billion Star of the South wind farm in Victoria, has also been awarded the coveted fast-tracking status.
Diatreme Resources has an agreement with Chinese solar giant Flat Glass Group to facilitate long-term binding off-take arrangements to supply silica from Cape Flattery. China is the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels. No such agreements have been reached with Australian operators.
Mr Swan, the national ALP president and former deputy prime minister, is the chairman of Diatreme. He holds two million shares and 10,000 unquoted share options in the company.
The latest Australian Stock Exchange data shows that in 2024, 10 of the company's 20 top investors are Chinese or Chinese-born Australian citizens and entities with close ties to China, holding collectively almost 626 million shares.
Current Diatreme director and former chairman, Chinese-born Cheng Weng, has lived in Australia since 2002. A former Diatreme director, Chinese businessman Yufeng Zhuang, was the company's fourth biggest investor in 2024, holding 152 million shares.
Mr Ayres said at the time of his decision to fast-track Diatreme's Cape Flattery plans that major project status approvals are a crucial part of the government’s Future Made in Australia strategy. Referring to Northern Silica, given the approval a month after the minister was sworn in following the federal election, he said: “The project will supply essential materials for domestic manufacturing of solar panels, silicon wafers and high-end electronics.”
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| Industry Minister Tim Ayres - Facebook |
The minister added: “These are key components in the global clean energy and tech supply chains. Backing in renewable energy projects strengthens and diversifies the local supply chain while directly creating regional job opportunities and attracting further investment.” Silica is the key raw material used in solar panel production.
Yesterday, Mr Ayres backed away away from earlier assurances that the project would boost domestic renewable energy projects. “Major Project Status is granted to projects that strengthen industrial and critical mineral supply chains, boost low-emissions energy and storage, and deliver secure well-paid jobs for Australian workers,” a spokesperson told The Australian.
The minister's department says the approvals enable strategically significant projects to get extra support and co-ordination. That includes a single entry point for Australian Government approvals; help with engaging state and territory facilitation agencies to navigate regulatory approvals; a dedicated case-manager inside the federal bureaucracy; and fast-tracked environmental and financial assessments.
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| Diatreme workers at Cape Flattery |
Diatreme Resouces chief executive Neil McIntyre said the project had the potential to produce 121 million tonnes of silica products over 25 years with annual target production of three million tonnes rising to five million tonnes. The company has suggested previously it could mine enough to produce three billion solar panels, offsetting the emissions of 4.25 million cars. With a current export price of $81 per tonne, the company estimates annual sales revenue of $391 million, with gross revenue over 25 years of production estimated at $9.8 billion.
Other than its Chinese contract, Diatreme has negotiated a sales agreement with Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co and has a strategic partnership with Belgium-based Sibelco, which is expected to take 25 per cent of exports. Mr McIntyre said other markets could include South Korea and Taiwan, although “at this stage Diatreme is yet to confirm final export arrangements”.
Asked to what extent Northern Silica would contribute to the domestic manufacturing of solar panels, silicon wafers and high-end electronics - as promised by Mr Ayres – Mr McIntyre said: “While there is strong demand from Asian markets, Diatreme is exploring both domestic and export markets as potential buyers of future output. Diatreme welcomes the government's focus on critical minerals including solar panel manufacturing which could potentially drive increased domestic demand for its products.”
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| Diatreme chairman Neil McIntyre |
The company has plans for a second mining project, Galalar Silica, also in the Cape Flattery area. Diatreme Resources is also proceeding with its Cyclone Zircon Project plans to mine up to 1,000 kilotonnes of zircon in Western Australia's Eucla Basin.
At the time of Mr Swan's appointment as Diatreme chairman in December 2021, Mr McIntyre described it as a “huge coup” for the company. His shares aside, the value of Mr Swan's renumeration in 2024 was $121,164, including $32,164 in share options. Figures for 2025 are not yet available.
Diatreme has lodged an environmental impact statement for the project, 35 kilometres north of the Hope Vale indigenous community, with the Queensland Government. It is located close to the existing operations of the Mitsubishi Corporation-owned Cape Flattery Silica Mines.
Mr Swan denied lobbying the Albanese Government to favour the project. “Neither I, nor anyone acting on my instruction, sought to communicate with any MP, minister or federal government officer about major project status approval for the Northern Silica Project before approval was granted,” he told The Australian.
Mr Swan is also chairman of the superannuation giant Cbus, from which he received remuneration of $234,300 in the financial year to June 2025.
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| Wayne Swan - Facebook |
Cbus has a ten percent stake in the Star of the South wind farm off the coast of Victoria's Gippsland. Like Diatreme, Star of the South has been granted Major Project Status approval. The Albanese Government has declared 15,000 square kilometres of offshore waters in the region as being suitable for renewable energy projects.
Last December – a month after the government renewed the approval - the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners-majority owned project submitted an environmental impact statement to the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).
At the time of Cbus's investment in 2022, the year Mr Swan became the fund's chairman, the wind farm operator said in a statement: “CIP is pleased to continue to strengthen our long-term partnership with Cbus, a superannuation fund that shares a similar perspective as CIP on the importance of clean energy resources.”
The developers describe Star of the South as Australia’s most advanced offshore wind project with the potential to power 1.2 million homes, suppling up to 20 per cent of Victoria’s electricity needs.
A Cbus spokesperson said Mr Swan had not discussed the wind farm's major project status with the Albanese Government.
The Weekend Australian reported recently claims by ecologists that in the rush for net zero emissions by 2050, controversial projects like Borumba Hydro and the Gawara Baya wind farm in Queensland are being fast-tracked when the developers' own reports point to endangered wildlife and biodiversity being at risk.
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| Diatreme workers at Cape Flattery |
Another Queensland Labor powerbroker, Mike Kaiser, was appointed by the Albanese Government to head DCCEEW last July, overseeing the environmental approval process.
From 2021 to 2024, when numerous renewables were approved in Queensland, Mr Kaiser variously headed the state departments of resources; development, infrastructure, local government and planning; and the premier and cabinet. A former Queensland ALP secretary, he was forced to quit as a state MP after admitting in 2001 to being fraudulently involved in Labor Party branch-stacking.
Ties between Queensland Labor and the renewables sector run deep. Mr Kaiser's former boss, Annastacia Palaszczuk, resigned as Queensland premier in December 2023. Six months later she was appointed International Ambassador for the Smart Energy Council.
Ms Palaszczuk's first official act was to lead a delegation to China that was focused on promoting co-operation between the Australian and Chinese renewable energy industries, specifically in solar energy and storage. Ms Palaszczuk declined to respond to questions about whether she has discussed Diatreme's project with the Chinese.
Her former second-in-command in government, Jackie Trad, was appointed chief executive officer of the Clean Energy Council last August. The former deputy premier heads the peak body for the developers of Australian renewables.
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| Annastacia Palaszczuk |
The Albanese Government joined the then Miles state Labor government in submitting a tentative World Heritage listing to UNESCO for 137,000 square kilometres of Cape York Peninsula in June 2024. The proposal followed a report by an independent scientific panel of experts to DCCEEW highlighting the region's world heritage values. The report referred to the cape's “spectacular” silica sand dune systems,with Cape Flattery having some of the largest, well-developed parabolic dunes in the world.
The Crisafulli Liberal National Party government in Queensland ordered a review of the World Heritage submission in January 2025. Federal environment minister Murray Watt said the Albanese Government remained committed to the proposal but needed to await the outcome of the state review.
Rainforest Reserves Australia vice-president Steve Nowakowski said an important issue in the rush to zero net emissions is critical mineral and rare earth mining.
“Not only is the number of renewable projects staggering across the country, but to facilitate the roll-out of this infrastructure requires critical mineral and rare earth mining of the likes never seen before,” Mr Nowakowski said.
“Cape Flattery is an area of outstanding beauty and high biodiversity. The Diatreme mine is in an area assessed as having world heritage values. Do we destroy our national heritage in the pursuit of green energy? ”
Mr McIntyre defended Diatreme's environmental stance. “Diatreme is dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of its operations and promoting responsible environmental practices across all levels of the organisation, including active rehabilitation programs,” he said.
“There are already significant areas identified and protected throughout Cape York Peninsula regionally and these are excluded for development and exploration purposes – Diatreme supports this approach.”
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| Diatreme's zircon project in WA |
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