Location | |
---|---|
Queensland | |
Country | Australia |
Production | |
Products | Bauxite |
Production | 34.5 million tonnes |
History | |
Discovered | 1955 |
Opened | 1963 |
Owner | |
Company | Rio Tinto |
Website |
www |
The Weipa bauxite mine is a bauxite mine at Weipa on the western Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. A geologist named Harry Evans discovered the vast bauxite resource in 1955. [1] Operations commenced in 1963.
The mine is owned by Rio Tinto. Power to the mine is supplied via a 6.7MW solar photovoltaic solar farm on site. [1] The majority of the mined bauxite is sent to the Queensland Alumina Limited and Rio Tinto Aluminum Yarwun refineries, both located in Gladstone. [1]
Difficult market conditions lead to a nine per cent cut in production in 2009. [2] In 2009, 16.3 million tonnes of bauxite was produced at the mine. [3] In 2022, production totaled 34.5 million tonnes.