Yarwun alumina refinery

The Rio Tinto Aluminium Yarwun refinery is situated 10 kilometres north-west of the central Queensland port city of Gladstone, Australia, which is on the Central Queensland Coast of Australia adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef.

The refinery was built at a capital cost of $1.5 billion. The first stage of the refinery has the capacity to provide 1.4 million tonnes of smelter grade alumina each year. Alumina is the material used in the smelting process to produce aluminium. The refinery design allows for further expansion which could see production increased to more than 4 million tonnes per annum. The first shipments from the refinery were made in November 2004.

The team is committed to achieving new benchmark performance levels in engineering and construction, community relations, and health, safety and environment.  For more information on refining alumina click here.

Location

The Gladstone region of Queensland (encompassing the city of Gladstone and nearby communities of Boyne Island, Tannum Sands, Yarwun, Targinnie and Calliope) is located approximately 550 kilometres north of Brisbane. Gladstone is the location of one of Queensland's major ports, and is the site of existing industry including alumina refining and aluminium smelting, power generation, and various other manufacturing facilities. The Gladstone and Calliope Shires together have an estimated population of around 35,000 people. The Gladstone region has an average minimum temperature of about 18.4 and an average maximum of about 27.5 degrees.

Rio Tinto Aluminium has been involved in the Gladstone region community since 1963, when construction began on Queensland Alumina Limited, the world's largest alumina refinery. Proximity to a power supply (the Gladstone Power Station) and to the Queensland Alumina Limited refinery, prompted Rio Tinto Aluminium to select Boyne Island (20 kilometres south of Gladstone) as the location for its new smelting operation and in 1982 operations began at Boyne Smelters Limited. Existing infrastructure and a supportive community convinced Rio Tinto Aluminium again to choose the Gladstone region as the location for its new refinery project in 2001. The Rio Tinto Aluminium Yarwun refinery was commissioned in late 2004 at its site near Yarwun. Rio Tinto Aluminium purchased a share in the Gladstone Power Station when it was privatised in 1994.

Operations data

Yarwun Expansion Project

In July 2007, Rio Tinto announced it would proceed with a US$1.8 billion expansion to the Yarwun alumina refinery. The expansion will more than double annual production, increasing output by two million tonnes to 3.4 million tonnes by 2011.