| Worsley Alumina | |||||||||||
| Pushpin Map: | Western Australia | ||||||||||
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Western Australia | ||||||||||
| Pushpin Label: | Worsley Alumina | ||||||||||
| Coordinates: | -33.2291°N 116.0767°W | ||||||||||
| Place: | Worsley, Western Australia | ||||||||||
| Subdivision Type: | State | ||||||||||
| State/Province: | Western Australia | ||||||||||
| Country: | Australia | ||||||||||
| Products: | Alumina | ||||||||||
| Amount: | NaNkt | ||||||||||
| Financial Year: | 2018 | ||||||||||
| Type: | Open pit | ||||||||||
| Opening Year: | [1] | ||||||||||
| Owner: | South32 (86%) Japan Alumina Associated (10%) Sojitz Alumina Pty Ltd (4%) | ||||||||||
| Acquisition Year: | 2015 | ||||||||||
| Module: |
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Worsley Alumina comprises a bauxite mine located near the town of Boddington and an Alumina refinery located near Worsley.[2] [3] Ore is mined then transported to the refinery via an overland conveyor system. Alumina is then transported to the port of Bunbury for shipping.
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 .[4] In the current approved Life of Operation Plan, total ore reserves are scheduled to be depleted by .
The refinery, also owned by South32, uses a four-stage Bayer Process to transform the red bauxite rock into white alumina powder. It is powered by coal, producing 3.7e6t 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 820kg/t of per alumina produced.[5]