Rio Tinto Alcan to study new bauxite mine in Queensland

Rio Tinto Alcan said it has approved a $30m feasibility study on a new bauxite mine to the south of its existing Weipa operations in the Australian state of Queensland.

If the study proves positive and the project gets the go-ahead, it would lift Weipa’s total bauxite production from 18.2 million tonnes in 2007 to 35 million tonnes, “giving the group increased capacity to supply bauxite to customers and to Rio Tinto Alcan-owned refineries,” the company said. The new operation would eventually replace the existing Weipa mine once its reserves are exhausted.

The study will also examine a new port and stockpile facilities with an estimated cost of $400m, part of an overall $1 billion cost estimate for the whole project. The study is expected to take one to two years to complete with construction time estimated at three years. That would mean first production at the earliest in 2013.

Steve Hodgson, president and CEO of the company’s bauxite and alumina business, commented: “The aluminium market remains strong and this extension supports Rio Tinto’s strategy of developing large, long life, value adding assets.”

Source from Metals Insider