Queensland Alumina Limited

Queensland Alumina Limited is one of the largest alumina refineries in the world. It is owned by a consortium of three international companies and each has an equity share interest in the operation. Rio Tinto Aluminium holds a 38.6 per cent interest in the refinery. Joint venture partners include Alcan (41.4 per cent) and Rusal (20 per cent). A management committee oversees the operations of the refinery, with the approval of all owners. Alumina production commenced at the site in March 1967, using bauxite mined at Weipa.

Location

The Gladstone region of Queensland (encompassing the city of Gladstone and nearby communities of Boyne Island, Tannum Sands, Yarwun, Targinnie and Calliope) is located approximately 550 kilometres north of Brisbane. Gladstone is the location of one of Queensland's major ports, and is the site of existing industry including alumina refining and aluminium smelting, power generation, and various other manufacturing facilities. The Gladstone and Calliope Shires together have an estimated population of around 35,000 people. The Gladstone region has an average minimum temperature of about 18.4 and an average maximum of about 27.5 degrees.

Rio Tinto Aluminium has been involved in the Gladstone region community since 1963, when construction began on Queensland Alumina Limited, the world's largest alumina refinery. Proximity to a power supply (the Gladstone Power Station) and to the Queensland Alumina Limited refinery, prompted Rio Tinto Aluminium to select Boyne Island (20 kilometres south of Gladstone) as the location for its new smelting operation and in 1982 operations began at Boyne Smelters Limited. Existing infrastructure and a supportive community convinced Rio Tinto Aluminium again to choose the Gladstone region as the location for its new refinery project in 2001. The Rio Tinto Aluminium Yarwun refinery was commissioned in late 2004 at its site near Yarwun. Rio Tinto Aluminium purchased a share in the Gladstone Power Station when it was privatised in 1994.