Worsley Alumina comprises a
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...
mine located near the town of
Boddington and an Alumina refinery located near
Worsley
Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester.
Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county ...
.
Ore is mined then transported to the refinery via an overland conveyor system. Alumina is then transported to the port of
Bunbury for shipping.
Bauxite Mine
The ''Boddington Bauxite Mine'' is located south of the town of Boddington, and comprises the two sites of ''Saddleback'' and ''Marradong''. The orebody exists as a hardcap layer of between thick, it is drilled and blasted before bulldozers can access the softer ore below. The ore is first crushed to a diameter less than before a second stage reduces it to .
In the current approved Life of Operation Plan, total ore reserves are scheduled to be depleted by .
Alumina Refinery
The refinery, also owned by
South32
South32 is a mining and metals company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It was spun out of BHP Billiton on 18 May 2015. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with secondary listings on the Johannesburg and London Stock ...
, uses a four-stage
Bayer Process
The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina (aluminium oxide) and was developed by Carl Josef Bayer. Bauxite, the most important ore of aluminium, contains only 30–60% aluminium oxide (Al2O3), the ...
to transform the red
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...
rock into white
alumina powder. It is powered by coal, producing of carbon per year averaged for 2017–2021, making it the fourth-biggest carbon polluter in Western Australia. The carbon intensity of Worsley Alumina is of per alumina produced.
References
Further reading
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{{South32
Mines in Western Australia
Bauxite mines in Australia