Gladstone home to world’s largest high purity alumina refinery

Queensland is cementing itself as a leading producer of a certain mineral and related products, with work to begin on a huge new facility.

Queensland is cementing itself as a leading producer of bauxite and aluminium products, as construction of the world’s largest high purity alumina refinery near Gladstone is set to begin within weeks.

Alpha HPA managing director Rimas Kairaitis confirmed construction of the 10ha state-of-the-art full-scale facility would now commence by the end of September, on the existing HPA site at Yarwun.

This story is part of The Courier-Mail’s special Future Queensland: Resources series that reveals the truth about the contribution the much-maligned resources industry makes to Queensland. You can read all of our coverage here

He said stage two would encompass full-scale production of up to 10,430 tonnes of high-purity aluminium materials per year creating 120 ongoing local jobs on top of 300 jobs during construction.

“Alpha HPA’s novel and Australian owned and developed proprietary process technology offers a unique opportunity to manufacture a wide range ultra-high purity aluminium material that are cost competitive, low-carbon and which leverages off established industrial infrastructure in Gladstone,” he said.

He said Alpha HPA was aiming to be in production at the facility by 2026, producing aluminium materials for high-technology applications, including the semiconductor, lithium-ion battery and LED lighting markets.

Staff at stage one of the HPA First Project facility in Yarwun

The state government is backing Alpha HPA through the $170 million Queensland Critical Minerals and Battery Technology Fund to turn ordinary alumina into higher value-added products, such as synthetic sapphire glass for LED lightning, smart watches and phones screens.

The Federal Government has also provided $400 million in loans towards the construction of the new facility.

The federal Resources and Energy Quarterly report for June shows Queensland mined more than 40 million tonnes of bauxite over the 12 months to March 2024, accounting for 39 per cent of Australia’s output.

Queensland also exported nearly $5 billion of bauxite, alumina, and aluminium in the 12 months to April, up 17 per cent on the same time the previous year.

Higher value-added aluminium products are increasingly in demand around the world particularly for renewable energy and batteries.

Resources and Critical Minerals Minister Scott Stewart said: “A strong Queensland relies on a strong resources sector and the latest national figures show we continue to punch above our weight when it comes to alumina commodities.”

Originally published as Gladstone home to world’s largest high purity alumina refinery