Northern Tasmania

Our Bell Bay Aluminium smelter began operating in 1955 and holds a unique place in Tasmanian and Australian history as the first aluminium smelter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Innovation at Bell Bay

We use leading technology at our smelter to find new ways to increase productivity and reduce our use of natural resources.

For example, we have been working with carbon baking technology to run our furnace at a lower intensity. Gas consumption has decreased by 30% in the furnace sections using this technology.

We have embraced smart technology and our 2 autonomously guided vehicles (AGVs) transport approximately 40,000 tonnes of aluminium a year from the cast house to the warehouse each day.

We have been a member of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) since January 2015, and Bell Bay aluminium has been certified against the ASI Performance Standard and ASI Chain of Custody Standard as part of our commitment to responsible production and sourcing of aluminium. 

Bell Bay communities

We have a long and proud history in Tasmania of supporting our community and are committed to building enduring relationships built on mutual respect, collaboration, and genuine partnership.

In 2017, we were a founding member of the Bell Bay Advanced Manufacturing Zone Ltd (BBAMZ), an industry based economic development group. BBAMZ’s strategic vision is to secure the economic prosperity of the region by working in partnership with industry, community and government on business diversification, investment attraction, skills, and workforce development. Since 2018, we have partnered with the George Town Council and the Australian Government to develop the George Town Mountain Bike Trails. By providing access to land owned by the smelter for a significant portion of the Mt George and the Tippogoree Hills trails network, we are supporting our local community and improving the liveability of the region while attracting more visitors to the George Town municipality.

Generations of Tasmanians have benefited from our apprenticeship program that combines quality training and mentorship in electrical and mechanical disciplines.

We also recruit, train and mentor top graduates from all over Australia. Our graduates are offered a variety of challenging work with opportunities to develop leadership and technical skills.

Preserving the environment

At Bell Bay, we collaborate with other organisations and businesses to find better ways to minimise our waste and repurpose the by-products of the smelting process.

For example, in partnership with Cement Australia in Northwest Tasmania, we transport 10,000 tonnes of Spent Cell Lining, a by-product of our process, in a purpose-built trailer. This by-product is used by Cement Australia as a fuel source for the kilns at their Railton operation.

Together with local schools in our community, we hold an annual tree-planting event. To date, more than 33,000 trees have been planted in the Launceston and Tamar Valley region in Tasmania. We donate the trees for the event which are grown by Sustainable Timber Tasmania and include oak, eucalypt, swamp paperbark and banksia trees. The initiative is an opportunity for students to learn about the importance of tree planting for the environment and their local community.