History and location

As part of the Worsley Alumina operations, bauxite is mined near the town of Boddington, 130 kilometres (kms) south east of Perth. It is then transported on the largest overland conveyor belt in the southern hemisphere, for more than 50 kms, to a refinery near the town of Collie, where a 100-year-old process is used to turn the red bauxite rock into white alumina powder.

The alumina is then transported by rail to Bunbury Port, where it is shipped to smelters around the world, including our Hillside and Mozal aluminium smelters in Africa.

A rich history

Interest in bauxite mining in the South West of Australia stretches back to the 1960s. However, mining and refining the ore didn’t get underway until the 1980s.

At the time, building the mine, conveyor belt and processing plant was Australia’s most expensive capital project, costing AUD$1.2 billion and employing 3500 people.

Over the past three decades our production has increased four-fold, making Worsley Alumina one of the largest and lowest-cost alumina producers in the world.

Bauxite

Improving water efficiency

We've been largely self-sufficient in water use for production purposes for thirty years. But with an ongoing drying trend affecting the region we know we need to do more to enhance water efficiency and secure our water supplies.

See case study

Playing our part

As a major employer in the South West and Peel regions of Western Australia, our operations inject more than $1 million each day into surrounding communities through wages, local businesses and community investment.

Explore Sustainability

Minimising diesel exhaust emissions

We've developed new technology to monitor and reduce diesel exhaust emissions at our underground mines.

Building the skills of the future

We're supporting local youth coding clubs in the South West of Western Australia.

Inspiring the next generation

We're giving school students an opportunity to get real experience in our operations.

Contact

Get in touch with Worsley Alumina

Noel Pillay

Noel Pillay, Vice President Operations

Noel’s track record with our operations spans more than 20 years. He has held various leadership roles at Hillside Aluminium in areas that include production, projects and human resources. Prior to this, Noel spent three years at the Worsley Alumina Refinery in Western Australia as Maintenance Manager before returning to South Africa in 2012, where he was most recently Vice President Operations for Hillside Aluminium. In 2018, Noel returned to Australia to take up the role of Vice President Operations at Worsley Alumina.

Mark Worthington, Corporate Affairs

Worsley Alumina
PO Box 344
Collie, 6225
Western Australia
Australia

Phone: +61 8 9734 8311
Community: 1800 555 958

Worsley Alumina