PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson gave reassurances this week that the government was committed to assisting mining giant Rio Tinto keep its Gove alumina refinery, in the Northern Territory, operational.
The refinery found itself on shaky ground at the end of last year, as a result of rising costs of heavy fuel oil, coupled with a high exchange rate and low alumina prices.
In February, Rio announced that its Gove refinery would continue to operate, after the state government committed to release a portion of its contracted gas for on-sale to the refinery for a period of ten years.
Rio was keeping the refinery operating while it conducted a feasibility study on converting the refinery to gas, and the commonwealth’s Export Finance and Insurance Corporation was conducting due diligence on a loan guarantee to support financing of the construction of a gas pipeline from Katherine to Gove.
“Supplying gas to Gove would not only help to ensure the future of the refinery, but also stimulate exploration and development of gas fields across northern Australia,” Ferguson said.
“This pipeline has the potential to become a significant piece of infrastructure for industry development in the Northern Territory.”
Ferguson noted that the refinery was vital to the economic stability of Nhulunbuy and the nearby indigenous communities. Pacific Aluminium, a business unit of Rio, employs approximately 1 100 people at the Gove refinery, currently 10% of which are indigenous.
Due diligence and feasibility studies were planned to be completed by December 2013 with gas expected to be supplied to Gove in early 2016.