Rio Tinto Alcan's Yarwun refinery idled

Rio Tinto Alcan's Yarwun refinery in Australia has been temporarily idled due to a severe blockage in the nine kilometre pipeline to its residue management area. Cleaning of the waste pipeline is advancing after the blockage was discovered on 29 July 2008.

The refinery, which normally operates at a capacity of around 4,000 tonnes of alumina per day, has been idling since that time. It is anticipated that the refinery will remain idle during August until cleaning has been completed.

Rio Tinto Alcan chief operating officer, Pacific Bauxite and Alumina, Alistair Field said the unusual nature of the task had required extensive risk assessments to ensure all work is carried out within strict safety and environmental requirements. The local community and relevant regulators have been consulted.

Rio Tinto Alcan is able to meet all of its alumina sales commitments from its other refineries and contracted purchases as well as current stock levels of alumina.

Opportunistic maintenance is being conducted on the refinery while the pipeline work continues.

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

For further information, please contact:

Rio Tinto Alcan Media Relations, Australia
Diane Collier
Office: +61 (0) 7 3867 1665
Mobile: +61 (0) 408 378 749

Rio Tinto Alcan Media Relations
Michelle Adams
Office: +1 514 848 8151

15-08-2008 Press release - Yarwun refinery idled [PDF: 19 KB]