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Operation overview
Rio Tinto Alcan Weipa mines bauxite for Rio Tinto Alcan operations and customers located worldwide. The Weipa bauxite mine underpins the Rio Tinto Alcan business. The mine supplies bauxite to the Queensland Alumina Limited refinery and Rio Tinto Alcan Yarwun, both located in Gladstone, Queensland. These refineries produce alumina as feedstock for Rio Tinto Alcan's smelting operations and for sale on the international market.
Location
The Western Cape Region is a diverse community reaching from the land near Aurukun in the south to almost the tip of Cape York in the north. There are 11 Traditional Owner groups represented in the area, and the region's population is based largely in five main communities or towns; Weipa, Aurukun, Napranum, Mapoon and New Mapoon.
Weipa is located 900 km north-northwest of Cairns, Queensland. The town of Weipa was constructed in the 1960s to house its mining workforce, but today is the regional hub of the Western Cape hosting many businesses and government services. The communities of Napranum, Aurukun and Mapoon have all developed on the site of former Presbyterian mission stations.