The $5 billion-plus project to pump natural gas from Papua New Guinea to Australia via a pipeline received a big boost yesterday when Comalco Ltd selected Queensland as the preferred site of a $1.4 billion alumina refinery.

The company said it was committed to using PNG gas if the pipeline was available on time and a feasibility study confirmed the viability of the plant, to be built in the central Queensland city of Gladstone and to create 1,150 jobs.