Alcoa has applied for federal environmental approval to restart a bauxite mining operation in Western Australia that has been inactive for 10 years.
Alcoa has applied for federal environmental approval to restart a bauxite mining operation in Western Australia that has been inactive for 10 years.
The Pittsburgh-based corporation has proposed to clear about 1,800 hectares of land in the O’Neil region of its Huntly mine, about 100 kilometres south-east of Perth.
Alcoa of Australia’s Huntly mine supplies bauxite to its refineries in Pinjarra and the recently-curtailed Kwinana.
The O'Neil region in Huntly bauxite mine is located about 24km east of North Dandalup and 25km north-east of Dwellingup, in the state’s Peel region.
In its application to a federal government department, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, Alcoa proposed to restart bauxite mining in the O’Neil region of its Huntly mine.
“In 2014, Alcoa ceased mining operations within the O’Neil region and transitioned its Huntly Mine operations to the Myara region (where Alcoa currently operates),” Alcoa’s application reads.
“Open areas contained within the O’Neil mine region have since been progressively rehabilitated up until 2021.
“Previously mined and rehabilitated areas within the O’Neil region have been selectively excluded from the development envelope where feasible, as all economic ore has been extracted from them.
“However, the region still contains remnant, viable ore deposits which are intended to be mined as part of this proposed action.”
In its application, Alcoa said there were no directly overlapping disturbance activities between the proposal and its existing and ongoing mining activities at its Huntly mine.
Alcoa anticipated to receive approval by the first quarter of 2026 with mining in the O'Neil region to start in late 2027 or early 2028, according to its application.
"In 2020 Alcoa anticipated that approval for the transition project would enable construction of infrastructure to commence in 2023, with mining commencing in 2025," its application reads.
"It has therefore been necessary to identify an area within the Huntly Mine, from which ore can be mined in 2026, to ensure continuity of supply to the Pinjarra Alumina refinery.
"The proposed action [for the O'Neil region] has been identified by Alcoa as the most appropriate area, as the development envelope is located within an area that has been previously mined, the environmental values are understood, and is close to existing supporting infrastructure."
The proposed development envelope is bounded by Alcoa's existing mining activities to the north and existing infrastructure that supported pas mining in the O'Neil region, to the west.
"Alcoa previously withdrew from mining in the O’Neil region due to issues related to the refining of impurities in the bauxite ore from this region," the company's application reads.
"While improvements to the refining process at the Pinjarra refinery subsequently overcame these issues, Alcoa did not previously propose to reenter the O’Neil region due to the limited life of mine (being around 4-5 years)."
Alcoa has proposed to increase the rate of bauxite mining to supply a 5 per cent growth of production at its Pinjarra refinery.
In January, Alcoa announced it would cease production at its Kwinana refinery, its oldest processing operation in WA.
