Cairns businesses stand to benefit from $2.6bn bauxite project at Weipa

Cairns businesses have been urged to ensure they are competitive to seize the opportunities offered by a $2.6 billion bauxite mine expansion on Cape York.

Rio Tinto on Friday, November 27, gave board approval of the long-awaited Amrun bauxite project, formerly known as South of Embley, at Weipa.

The single biggest investment in Far North Queensland, the mine’s expansion will create 1100 jobs and inject $400 million and more than $800 million into the local and Far North economies during the three-year construction phase alone.

Rio has confirmed Cairns will serve as a major hub for the mine despite its distance from Weipa. It will be used as a base for flights to and from the site, as well as providing other goods and services.

Advance Cairns chief executive Mark Matthews sees the project as “an enormous opportunity” for the region that will provide for future sustainability and growth. “The message for our businesses is there are opportunities but this is a global company, so they’re not just going to give it to Cairns because it’s close,” he said. “Our businesses need to ensure they are competitive. However, there certainly is a desire on Rio’s part to provide significant local content.”

The project is expected to produce 50 million tonnes of bauxite a year when it reaches capacity. Once production and shipping get under way in 2019, there will be jobs for the 1400 existing Rio Tinto Alcan workers – nearly a quarter of whom are indigenous – for the next 40 years,

Shipping is expected to start in the first half of 2019, with an initial output of 22.8 million tonnes a year, but potentially up to 50 million tonnes a year.

Federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch believes the project will inject a “massive dose of confidence” into the region and encourage more investment. “All those people who have businesses there, it is just amazing,” he said.

The chairman of the Weipa Town Authority in far north Queensland says more housing will be built to cope with a projected population boom resulting from the expansion of Rio Tinto's bauxite operations.