In pursuit of net zero targets, the mining of essential minerals to power the renewable technologies necessary for a decarbonised future has taken centre stage. However, the companies that mine these minerals also face the challenge of protecting the ecosystems and environments in which they work.
With more people than ever before calling for transparency and increased industry reporting, mining companies around the world are seeking innovative ways to balance production without jeopardising Australia’s unique and fragile habitats.
As Alcoa Australia marks its 60th anniversary, Alcoa Australia President, Matt Reed, explains how the company is looking forward, with a focus on evolving to meet changing expectations.
Mr Reed said Alcoa’s recent commitment to not mine close to the Western Australian forest town of Dwellingup is a testament to the company’s continued focus on evolving to meet changing environmental, social and sustainability requirements.
The 8,344ha ‘no mining zone’ in and around Dwellingup – an area more than four times the size of Western Australia’s Rottnest Island – is set to help protect important environmental and social values. The announcement of the ‘no mine zone’ follows the company’s decision to implement similar zones near Jarrahdale, another Western Australian forest town.
“Previous exploration has identified mineral prospectivity within these no mining zones. However, we made the commitment to protect them following numerous studies and considerable consultation,” Mr Reed said.
“This decision highlights a catch-22 that we are not facing alone. Commodities derived from mining, including our end product aluminium, along with high-demand minerals such as copper and lithium, to name a few, are essential to a decarbonised future.
“People are rightfully calling for faster paths to decarbonisation but some also want an end to extractive industries like the bauxite mining that is critical to aluminium production. You can’t have one without the other, so there’s a necessary balance.”
Balancing expectations
The International Aluminium Institute forecasts that global demand for aluminium will increase by 80 per cent between 2018 and 2050, and Mr Reed said Alcoa is poised to play a big part in meeting that demand.
“We have a proven track record of mining bauxite, refining alumina, and smelting aluminium in a safe and responsible way.
“Our vision is to reinvent the aluminium industry for a sustainable future, with innovation and continuous improvement at the heart of who we are,” he said.
In 1963, Alcoa became Australia’s first integrated bauxite, alumina and aluminium industry – mining bauxite near Jarrahdale, refining it into alumina nearby at Kwinana, and smelting alumina to make aluminium in Victoria.
The company currently operates two bauxite mines and three alumina refineries in Western Australia, and an aluminium smelter in Portland, Victoria.
“We produce about 50 per cent of the nation’s alumina in Western Australia and 20 per cent of the country’s aluminium from our Victorian smelter.
“Nationwide, we directly employ about 4,850 people and annually pay more than $760 million in wages, salaries and benefits, spend $2.6 billion with 1,560 Australian suppliers, and invest about $4.9 million in community contributions.
“But it’s not just what we produce or the economic value we deliver, it’s how we do it. Responsible production is embedded in our Alcoa values, and in Australia and around the world we are consistently recognised for our approach to sustainability.”
Since its Australian operations began in 1963, Mr Reed said Alcoa has built a reputation as a leader in environmental management.
“We are the world’s lowest CO² emitting alumina producer and our Australian business was the first mining company to receive recognition from the United Nations for rehabilitation excellence. Our teams are working daily to develop and lead new and innovative processes to help achieve our net zero ambition.”
In terms of the company’s bauxite mining, Mr Reed said Alcoa strives to protect areas of high conservation and social value, as evidenced by the recent no mining zone announcements.
“We do not mine in national parks or old growth forests – all areas where we operate have previously been logged. We carry out extensive surveys and planning before any land is cleared and protect areas of high conservation and biodiversity value including large nesting trees used by black cockatoos.”
Mine site rehabilitation objectives around Australia vary according to agreed post-mining land uses, with the objective in some cases to return as near as possible to an area’s original attributes. In other cases, it might be to repurpose land for uses such as farming or recreation.
“Our commitment where we mine is to restore a resilient jarrah forest ecosystem and we have developed an industry leading rehabilitation and forest restoration program over our decades of operating in Western Australia.”
Restoring the forest
According to Mr Reed, more than 75 per cent of all areas Alcoa have cleared for mining have been rehabilitated to date and are at different stages of development.
“We are working to accelerate our rehabilitation rates even further, hand back more restored areas to the state, as well as evolve our practices in line with emerging science and factors such as the drying climate and increased bushfire risk.
“We’ve dedicated more than 50 years of research and development to jarrah forest restoration and continue to strive for ongoing improvement.”
Mr Reed said the company’s work was instrumental in the Western Australian Government changing the rehabilitation completion criteria from a focus on timber production to that of jarrah forest restoration, meaning that from 1988 only Western Australian native species have been returned to areas where the company mines.
“Over the past 20 years, we have achieved an average of 93 percent native botanical species richness returns in our mine site rehabilitation. We were the first company to achieved 100 per cent species return, which was first reached in 2001.
“We were also the first mining company in Australia to officially hand back a significant area of rehabilitated land, work that was recognised with a State Government award for environmental excellence.”
Mr Reed said Alcoa’s commitment to forest restoration starts before mining even begins, with the company conducting extensive studies to identify areas that should be protected and to plan how rehabilitation should be carried out post mining. Additionally, the Western Australian Forest Products Commission harvests timber from land that is earmarked for mining.
“After mining, landscaping is carried out to blend with surrounding unmined forest, overburden and seed-rich topsoil removed prior to mining are returned, along with selected logs and rock to help establish fauna habitat.
“We then sow seeds from about 40 local species and plant about 30 species of nursery-raised recalcitrant seedlings. These are species that don’t grow well from seed.
“Over the past five years, we have rehabilitated more than 500ha of cleared land annually, planted a total of more than two million seedlings and distributed more than eight tonnes of treated seed.”
Managing water
According to Mr Reed, the company’s focus on water management is just as strong as it is for forest restoration.
“Some of our mining and rehabilitation occurs within the drinking water catchment and in 60 years of operation, we have never had a negative impact on public drinking water supply. We are enhancing our controls to ensure that remains the case.”
Mr Reed said that over the past 12-18 months, Alcoa has installed hundreds of additional water monitoring bores to understand ground water and better inform mine design and risk management. The company has also increased turbidity monitoring to enhance quality management, and prioritised rehabilitation in water catchments with stepped-up drainage assessments and designs backing this work.
Evolving with the times
“We are committed to evolving our operations to meet changing needs and expectations. That includes our mining approvals.”
Mr Reed said that Alcoa’s mine plans have been reviewed annually by the Western Australian Government’s Mine Management Planning Liaison Group (MMPLG), which takes in various departments and agencies, and have been approved by the Minister for State Development.
Approximately three years ago, the company moved to align its mining approvals with the contemporary approach that involves assessment by the independent State and Commonwealth environmental regulators. Technological innovation is also a key focus.
“We know there are strong evolving needs and expectations when it comes to climate change and that is why Alcoa is striving for zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our Australian operations are helping lead the charge on a range of carbon reduction initiatives. We’ve brought together experts from around the world to design the alumina refinery of the future,” Mr Reed said.
“Two technologies being trialled in Western Australia have the potential, when combined with a decarbonised electricity grid, to reduce a refinery’s carbon emissions by about 98 per cent and reduce freshwater use by up to 70 per cent.
“We’ve achieved a lot through our 60-year history of operating in Australia and we continue to evolve to deliver the aluminium
the world needs in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.”
