Evolving to meet changing environmental, social and sustainability requirements is key to Alcoa Australia’s ongoing success in Western Australia as it continues to provide the aluminium essential for a decarbonised future.
As the company celebrates 60 years of operating in WA, Vice President Operations Australia Rob Bear said Alcoa was committed to continuously improving the way it mined bauxite and refined alumina in the region, including modernising its approvals framework, so it could continue to produce the metal that was vital to everyday life.
Mr Bear said that was why, about three years ago, Alcoa proactively referred its next proposed mining areas at the Huntly Bauxite Mine and a planned increase in production at its Pinjarra Alumina Refinery to the State and Commonwealth for environmental assessment. Those plans are currently subject to the highest level of assessment, a Public Environmental Review.
He also said that following extensive stakeholder and community consultation, Alcoa was modifying those initial plans to address changing expectations. That included reducing the proposed next mining area, near Jarrahdale, resulting in about 1,000 hectares less clearing and taking operations further away from the townsite. Plans to export bauxite are also being withdrawn meaning 100 per cent of ore mined in WA would continue to be processed at Alcoa’s local alumina refineries.
Alcoa started operating in WA in 1963, mining bauxite near Jarrahdale and refining it into alumina at Kwinana. It also opened an aluminium smelter in Victoria, giving birth to Australia’s first integrated bauxite, alumina and aluminium industry.Today, Alcoa Australia operates two bauxite mines and three alumina refineries in WA’s South West. It directly employs about 4,000 people in the State and annually pays about $650 million in wages, salaries and benefits, spends $1.7 billion with more than 900 WA suppliers and contractors, and invests about $4.5 million in community projects.
The shallow, pod-like nature of bauxite mining means a moving footprint and progressive rehabilitation. To date, Alcoa has cleared just 4 per cent of its WA mineral lease and over the current life of the lease, expects to clear about 8 per cent. It does not mine in areas of high conservation value or in old growth forest. Areas mined have been previously disturbed by timber harvesting.
About 75 per cent of all areas Alcoa has cleared for mining have been rehabilitated and are at different stages along the trajectory to forest recovery. Alcoa was the first mining company in Australia to officially hand back a significant area of rehabilitated land, work that was recognised with a State Government Golden Gecko award for environmental excellence.
Mr Bear said while Alcoa stood by its record on mine site restoration, it continued to investigate enhancements including accelerating its rate of rehabilitation.
“Alcoa’s pioneering work to develop leading restoration methods, working closely with government and research organisations, has led to significant success in returning a healthy and resilient jarrah forest ecosystem,” he said.
“But it’s an ongoing process and one that we continue to evolve in line with emerging science and factors such as the drying climate and increased bushfire risk.”
Mr Bear said Alcoa was also taking on recent concerns raised about its mining operations in the public drinking water catchment.
“In 60 years of operation, we have never had a negative impact on public drinking water supply, and we are looking at additional controls to ensure that remains the case,” he said.
Mr Bear said Alcoa acknowledged that the areas where it operated in WA had great appeal for their mix of lifestyle, economic opportunity and natural amenity.
“We are taking all these values into account, more than ever before, as we design our future plans,” he said. “Ultimately, we need to balance management of the natural environment while keeping a strong economy, and safe and secure jobs.”
Mr Bear said just as operating sustainably was key to continued support, so too was reducing carbon emissions. He said Alcoa was striving for zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 globally, with WA playing a big role.
“We’ve brought together experts from around the globe to design the alumina refinery of the future,” he said. “Two technologies being trialled in WA have the potential, when combined with a decarbonised electricity grid, to reduce a refinery’s carbon emissions by about 98 per cent and reduce freshwater use by up to 70 per cent.”
Mr Bear said there was no escaping that more aluminium production was essential for a decarbonised economy.
“The International Aluminium Institute has forecast global demand for aluminium will increase by 80 per cent between 2018 and 2050,” he said. “Meeting this demand through more sustainable production is going to be the number one challenge in the decades ahead.
“We have a huge responsibility to help meet that demand in a safe and sustainable manner and that is Alcoa’s focus, locally and globally.”
