Weipa bauxite mine

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.

Mining equipment at the mine, 1995
Location
Queensland
Country	Australia
Production
Products	Bauxite
Production	34.5 million tonnes
History
Discovered	1955
Opened	1963 (1963)
Owner
Company	Rio Tinto
Website	www.riotinto.com/Operations/australia/weipa

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 ore is transported to the port via a 19 kilometre Standard Gauge railway. The majority of the mined bauxite is sent to the Queensland Alumina Limited and Rio Tinto Aluminum Yarwun refineries, both located in Gladstone.^[1]

History

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.

See also

• Queensland portal

• Bauxite mining in Australia
• Mining in Australia