Alcoa Successfully Begin Exporting Bauxite From Huntley Mine Near Pinjarra
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 30 May 2017 16:15
When BAJV and BRL were pushing hard to mine here in our back yard, it did not seem to matter who we spoke to in the industry about the possibility of the Felicitas and Fortuna resource's becoming mining operations, as they all seemed to have the same opinion, and that was, Darling Range bauxite is classed as being low grade ore having only 27 - 31% Al203 content and therefore the only way to make money out of mining it was to refine it locally and to export the alumina.
This is the business model that Alcoa has used for decades at the Kwinana, Pinjarra and Wagerup refineries.
Alcoa have been working very hard to change all of that. It seems that they have struck a deal with a Chinese company to supply an initial 400,000 tonnes of DSO (Direct shipping ore) to China and our state government has agreed to allow them to export 2.5 million tonnes of DSO p/a.
What this means is that if Alcoa can get a profitable DSO operation up and running, then any other mining company who is also granted approval to mine here in the Darling Scarp can do the same.
This now places an even greater risk to our communities, and while there are LIVE tenements here owned by BRL, Yankuang or any other company, then all communities close to the Felicitas and Fortuna resource areas in the shires of Toodyay, Northam and Mundaring will remain under enormous threat of future mining.
AHMAG
