Boyne Island Aluminium Smelter

Construction of the smelter commenced in 1979 and the plant was officially opened in 1982. The concept of an aluminium industry in the state of Queensland, Australia began in 1957 when the Queensland Government and Comalco's predecessor signed an agreement giving the company the right to develop a large bauxite deposit discovered two years earlier at Weipa on the remote far North West coast of Cape York Peninsula by the company.

The agreement required Comalco to accept a number of obligations, including establishing a plant in Queensland to refine bauxite to alumina and to investigate building an aluminium smelter to smelt alumina to aluminium. The first obligation was fulfilled in 1967 when a consortium by the company commenced operation of the Queensland Alumina's Gladstone refinery.

The economics of establishing a smelter improved dramatically after the discovery within Queensland of a number of new coal fields in the Bowen basin. In 1972 Comalco entered into further agreements with the State giving the company the right to opt for blocks of power from a new powerstation to be built at Gladstone. Partly funded by the Federal Government on the condition that a portion of the power would be used for export industry. In 1974 Comalco began detailed investigations into a site for an Aluminium smelter in the Gladstone area. The power agreement defined a radius from the powerstation for the establishment of the plant. A local office was established in Gladstone to conduct site selection, environmental studies and infrastructure requirements.

In 1975 the company opted for the first block of power. At the time the world aluminium industry was in recession. In August 1977 Comalco had obtained Federal Government, Queensland Government and Calliope Shire environmental approvals and began clearing and preliminary earthworks on the 50 Ha Boyne Island smelter site. It was not until 1978 that conditions improved sufficiently for Comalco to commit in principle to the establishment of the Boyne Island aluminium smelter. In August 1979 Comalco formed the consortium company to establish the smelter.

Initially the consortium comprised American and Japanese participants along with Comalco, an Australian company. All participants entered the project through an Australian subsidiary, Gladstone Aluminium, and were obliged to take the whole of the production of the smelter in proportion to their shareholding. Comalco managed the construction and ongoing operation of the plant. In 1981 Gladstone Aluminium was renamed Boyne Smelter.

The first aluminium was produced in February 1982 on schedule and within budget. Potline 2 start-up was July 1983 and the smelter officially opened after that.

The smelter comprises:

two potlines of 240 Sumitomo S-170 reduction cells commissioned in 1982;

one potline of 264 Pechiney AP-30 cells commissioned in 1997; and

a test group of 5 Comalco B32 cells commissioned in 2002.