Australia-based miner Rio Tinto has announced that it has started shipping scrap from the demolition project at its Gove alumina refinery site in the Northern Territory. The project is reported to be the country’s largest-ever demolition project.
The first cargo containing about 15,000 mt of scrap recently left Gove wharf for Asia to be converted into new steel wire, bar and beam products. In total, 142,000 mt of steel in 10 shipments will be exported to Asia from the Gove Refinery site, where demolition began last year. Around 300,000 mt of concrete will also be recycled for local road construction and other projects.
The refinery demolition and remediation project are scheduled to be completed in 2027. Bauxite mining at Gove is planned to continue until later this decade.