Rio Tinto will cut production at its Yarwun Alumina Refinery by 40 per cent in a strategic bid to keep the plant open until 2035.
The reduction effectively provides the mining giant four extra years to engineer a solution for its critical waste storage shortage, which otherwise threatened to close the site by 2031.
“While we have extensively explored options to develop a second tailings facility for Yarwun over a number of years, the scale of investment required is substantial and not currently economically viable,” Rio Tinto aluminium pacific operations managing director Armando Torres said.
“Reducing production from October 2026 enables us to continue alumina production until 2035 and trial pathways to secure the longer-term future of Yarwun.”
The company will lower the refinery’s operating speed from October 2026 to prevent the existing dam from filling up too quickly.
This operational slowdown aims to bridge the gap to new technologies that could eliminate the need for wet tailings dams entirely. Rio Tinto will “continue to focus on innovative tailings solutions at the operation, including neutralisation and centrifuge-based dry tailings”, according to a statement.
While the production cut removes 1.2 million tonnes of alumina from the annual market, it will not impact Rio Tinto’s aluminium smelters or bauxite mines. However, 180 roles are set to be affected at the Gladstone facility, although redeployment efforts are underway. Yarwun currently employs about 725 people.
Yarwun remains a central hub for the company’s decarbonisation efforts. The refinery is hosting a world-first hydrogen calcination trial funded by Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which aims to replace natural gas in the refining process.
This dual focus on waste reduction and lower emissions signals that Rio Tinto sees a long-term future for the asset.
