Worsley Mine Development

Worsley Alumina is a key contributor to the Western Australian economy. We are one of the largest private sector employers in the Peel and South West regions, with approximately 1,500 permanent employees and more than 500 contractors.

We inject more than AU$1 million per day into the local economy through wages, local business spend and community investment.

The next phase of mining would sustain the employment of our workforce, create approximately 150 jobs during construction, and continue to deliver socio-economic benefits to our local communities.

Bauxite is mined near the town of Boddington, 130 kilometres south east of Perth. The bauxite is transported to the alumina refinery via an overland conveyor system that stretches more than 50 kilometres. The refinery extracts alumina using a four-stage Bayer process.

This process turns the red bauxite rock into white alumina powder. The alumina is then transported 55 kilometres by rail to the Bunbury Port for export to aluminium smelters worldwide, including South32’s Hillside and Mozal aluminium smelters in Southern Africa.

The alumina is used in the smelting process to produce aluminium.  Aluminium is strong, flexible, light-weight, durable, 100 per cent recyclable. It plays a crucial role in producing lighter vehicles and other forms of transport due to its high strength-to-weight ratio.

Aluminium is resistant to corrosion and is recyclable, making it an increasingly popular choice in modern sustainable buildings. It is also widely used in machinery, packaging and electronics.