Queensland bauxite mines benefitted from growing demand for high-grade bauxite

Growing demand for high-quality bauxite in the international market is slowly transforming the mining scene in Cape York at Far North Queensland. A number of bauxite projects are coming up in the area besides the Rio Tinto’s $2.6 billion Amrun project which would be one of the largest bauxite alumina projects in Queensland.

Metro Mining’s Bauxite Hills Mine, which is scheduled to begin production in 2018 would benefit  remote areas like Mapoon Remote areas like Injinoo and Mapoon which are located at about 95km north of Weipa.

The ASX-listed company has signed an agreement with Xinfa Aluminium China to supply seven million tonnes of bauxite over the first four years of the project. The Bauxite Hills Mine will employ about 200 people when it starts operation.

“We’re starting to see a lot of announcements for new alumina refineries in China, all of which rely on imported bauxite,” said Metro managing director Simon Finnis.

He expects demand for bauxite to double over the next decade.

Another small scale mine at Weipa, Urquhart Bauxite, is expected to begin production in the coming months.

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Metallica Minerals, another listed mining company, will ship bauxite to Asian markets from the nearby Hey Point mine.  However, most of the employment and other opportunities are expected to the generated by Rio’s Amrun project, between Weipa and Aurukun, which will open up a new era in Rio Tinto’s Cape York mining business.  The mining major would close its existing East Weipa mine soon to expand its operations to Aurukun.

“There are going to be some changes, mainly because the actual (Amrun) mine site will be further and further from Weipa,” said Weipa Town Authority chairman Michael Rowland. “But Amrun virtually takes Weipa to the next stage … there’s about another 50 years of mining in that area alone, without even looking at more mining leases to the north,” he added.