Worsley Alumina

Worsley Alumina comprises a bauxite mine located near the town of Boddington and an Alumina refinery located near Worsley. Ore is mined then transported 50 km to the refinery via an overland conveyor system. Alumina is then transported 55 km to the port of Bunbury for shipping.

Bauxite Mine
The Boddington Bauxite Mine is located south of the town of Boddington, and comprises the two sites of Saddleback and Marradong. The orebody exists as a hardcap layer of between 2–12 m thick, it is drilled and blasted before bulldozers can access the softer ore below. The ore is first crushed to a diameter less than 18 cm before a second stage reduces it to 3 cm. In the current approved Life of Operation Plan, total ore reserves are scheduled to be depleted by.

Alumina Refinery
The refinery, also owned by South32, uses a four-stage Bayer Process to transform the red bauxite rock into white alumina powder. It is powered by coal, producing 3.7 e6t of carbon per year averaged for 2017–2021, making it the fourth-biggest carbon polluter in Western Australia. The carbon intensity of Worsley Alumina is 820 kg/t of per alumina produced.