Briefcase: Business Snippets from around South Australia
In this week’s Briefcase, Coopers revs up with the Supercars and the Koala Sanctuary secures some land. Plus the latest business events.
- BHP awards contract for proposed smelter and refinery expansion
- Coopers signs on for another lap with Supercars
- Adelaide Uni pens partnership with the Crows
- First Arafura class offshore patrol vessel delivered by Adelaide shipbuilders
- The Koala Sanctuary secures 500 hectares on Kangaroo Island
- South Australian AI to turbocharge space telescopes
- Flinders’ new platform comes online
- Citizens of the Year awarded
- GFG prepares to ramp up to full production of Whyalla steelworks
BHP awards contract for proposed smelter and refinery expansion
A joint venture between Fluor Australia and Hatch has been awarded a contract to support BHP’s proposed expansion of its copper smelter and refinery facilities in South Australia.
The company said the contract would be executed in stages as it progresses towards a final investment decision in the first half of FY27.
Phase one of the plans to increase copper production in SA to more than 500,000 tonnes by the early 2030s would involve an upgrade of the existing smelter and refinery at Olympic Dam to a two-stage smelter and extension of refinery facilities.
“Fluor and Hatch are experienced global EPCM partners with significant shared experience in delivering mega projects, who will bring the right level of scale and expertise to help BHP progress its copper growth plans in South Australia,” BHP group procurement officer Rashpal Bhatti said.
Photo: Supplied
Coopers signs on for another lap with Supercars
Repco Supercars has named Coopers as the official beer, cider & non-alcoholic beer partner of the Championship, with the renewed partnership to run from 2025 through 2027.
Coopers will hold exclusive pouring rights at Supercars events, while fans can enjoy the brand’s beverages in public and corporate hospitality areas at most Championship rounds.
Coopers previously held the partnership title between 2012 and 2021.
“It’s great to be back with the Supercars,” Coopers Brewery general manager Michael Shearer said.
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Adelaide Uni pens partnership with the Crows
The state’s newest university has partnered with the Adelaide Football Club, with Adelaide University (the amalgamation of UniSA and the University of Adelaide) to feature prominently on the back of all playing guernseys.
Adelaide University will be a premier partner of the Crows’ AFL and AFLW teams from 2025 to 2028.
“We are two South Australian organisations that are passionate about our State and share a commitment to pursuing excellence on a national stage,” Crows CEO Tim Silvers said.
South Australian Grain Industry Awards, an inaugural gala dinner event hosted by Grain Producers SA to spotlight the grain sector, at Adelaide Oval on February 4.
CEDA: Energy Security SA, a discussion about the future of South Australian power at the National Wine Centre on 17 February.
2025 South Australian Tourism Summit, aims to instil business confidence, inspire collaboration and a shared focus on key priorities and will discuss development, investment and emerging opportunities in South Australian tourism on 20 February.
Property Council SA: SA Outlook Breakfast, featuring a panel of industry leaders, across a variety of asset classes to provide valuable insights into the current market, key challenges and upcoming opportunities in South Australia on 21 February at SkyCity Adelaide.
International Women’s Day Breakfast, a Committee for Adelaide Event with Anna Meares, Grant Stevens, R M Williams COO Tara Moses, and Future Women founder Helen McCabe, at SkyCity on February 27.
_SOUTHSTART, the South Australian festival of start-ups, innovation and future thinking, held across multiple venues, will feature speakers such as Phil Morle, partner at Main Sequence Ventures, and Allys Todd, co-Founder and CEO at ValAi from 4-6 March.
2025 AEDA Business Summit, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas will attend the summit and will be joined by a stellar lineup of business leaders and industry experts on 20 May at the Adelaide Oval.
First Arafura class offshore patrol vessel delivered by Adelaide shipbuilders
Defence has accepted the first Arafura class Offshore Patrol Vessel for further test and evaluation ahead of delivery to the Royal Australian Navy.
The ship was delivered under project SEA 1180 and was built by Luerssen Australia at the Osborne Naval Shipyard.
This project will deliver six Arafura class Offshore Patrol Vessels to Navy in total, with the first two to be made at Osborne while the remaining four are under construction in Western Australia.
The Koala Sanctuary secures 500 hectares on Kangaroo Island
An eco-tourism destination to support koala research and native vegetation restoration has secured a 500-hectare site in the northwestern part of Kangaroo Island, home to 1000 koalas.
The Koala Sanctuary is now set to commence operations in February to support the resilience of ecological communities on KI that contain koalas, and ultimately offer immersive visitor experiences.
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TKS was created following the devastating Black Summer bushfires in 2019-2020.
Spokesperson Dr Julian Beaman said the sanctuary would play a vital role in ensuring there would always be a place in the world where people could experience koalas in the wild.
“Despite being such a well-known species, there is still much to learn about this cryptic animal. Our aspiration is for The Koala Sanctuary to be a focal point for new understanding of koala biology and to support their conservation and sustainable populations,” Dr Beaman said.
South Australian AI to turbocharge space telescopes
South Australian artificial intelligence company AICRAFT is teaming up with South Korea’s CONTEC Space Optics to deliver high-speed computing modules for advanced space telescopes.
AICRAFT will design and manufacture an upgraded version of its standard Pulsar edge computing modules to efficiently manage vast imaging data, reduce latency and enable real-time insights for critical missions.
The partnership is expected to produce transformative advancements in satellite technology and operations, with benefits to industries including agriculture, defence, disaster management, and environmental monitoring.
AICRAFT chief executive officer Dr Tony Scoleri said the collaboration aimed to set a new standard for satellite-based intelligence and imaging.
Flinders’ new platform comes online
Flinders University has launched a new digital platform that offers 18 courses through undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, diplomas and certificated in fields like education, health, business, law and IT.
“Flinders Online provides our students with the same world-class quality of teaching as on-campus, while offering flexible, self-paced study options to fit their busy schedules and allow them to learn at their own pace and when it suits them,” Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Romy Lawson said.
The full list of Flinders Online courses is available here and students can book a chat with Flinders advisers at this link.
Flinders Online is providing a 20 per cent discount on student fees through its Kickstart Scholarship for many new online courses launching this year.
Citizen of the Year Mij Tanith with Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith. This picture: City of Adelaide
Citizens of the Year awarded
Inner city resident Mij Tanith was awarded the City of Adelaide’s 2025 Citizen of the Year for her work with volunteer organisation Circle of Friends which supports newly arrived refugees.
“It is an honour to recognise Mij for her leadership, compassion, tenacity and determination when it comes to helping those who are in need,” said Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith.
The awards, presented on January 24, also recognised engineer Julian Zheng as Young Citizen of the Year and the grassroots Save the Cranker campaign, which mobilised thousands of community members and successfully lobbied the state government, for the Active Citizenship of the Year award.
The Australian Sikh Games was awarded the Community Event of the Year for their three-day event held in the Adelaide CBD. Over 100,000 spectators attended and 3500 athletes representing 120 Australian sporting clubs and 11 international sporting clubs participated.
The Whyalla Steelworks. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDaily
GFG prepares to ramp up to full production of Whyalla steelworks
Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG has announced it is “preparing for the ramp up to full production” after a temporary, planned shutdown of the Natural Gas supply line feeding into the facility.
In a statement, a GFG said Epic Energy restored the connection on Thursday last week.
“We are now preparing for the ramp up to full production,” GFG Alliance said.
“The ramp up to full production will take time and patience, we are working closely with our partners as we navigate the challenges the plant faces.”
