Alcoa in Australia

Alcoa’s Australian operations represent the world’s largest integrated bauxite mining, alumina refining, aluminium smelting and rolling system. Also operating the country’s largest aluminium recycling plant, Alcoa adds value to Australia’s local, state and national economies at every stage.

Alcoa of Australia operates the mines, refineries and smelters, while Alcoa Australia Rolled Products operates the rolled products plants and recycling operation. Together, these businesses support around 6000 direct jobs, predominantly in regional Australia.

Our operations in Australia include:

Two bauxite mines in Western Australia (Huntly and Willowdale);
Three alumina refineries in Western Australia (Kwinana, Pinjarra and Wagerup);
Two aluminium smelters in Victoria (Point Henry and Portland Aluminium);
Two aluminium rolling mills in Victoria (Point Henry) and NSW (Yennora);
An aluminium recycling plant in New South Wales (Yennora);
Two dedicated port facilities in Western Australia (Kwinana and Bunbury);
A coal mine and power station in Victoria (Anglesea);
Three Alcoa Farmlands sites in Western Australia (Pinjarra, Wagerup and Boddington);
The Marrinup Nursery in Western Australia (for our WA mine site rehabilitation); and
Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline in Western Australia (20% ownership).

Alcoa’s other operations in Australia are Alcoa Wheel Products Australia which distributes aluminium truck wheels and Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings Australia which manufactures and distributes specialist fasteners.

Alcoa of Australia Limited is 60% owned by Alcoa Inc. and 40% by Alumina Limited. Alcoa Australia Rolled Products, Alcoa Wheel Products Australia and Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings Australia are owned 100% by Alcoa Inc.

Alcoa of Australia is part of the primary aluminium production business, with the process starting at the Huntly and Willowdale bauxite mines in the Darling Range south of Perth. The Huntly Mine is the world’s largest bauxite mine. These two mines supply bauxite to Alcoa’s alumina refineries at Kwinana, Pinjarra and Wagerup. The refineries extract alumina from the bauxite. Some of the alumina is exported, while the remainder is shipped to Alcoa’s smelters in Victoria.

Our two aluminium smelters, Point Henry in Geelong and Portland Aluminium in Portland, smelt the alumina into aluminium ingots. Portland Aluminium is an unincorporated joint venture project between Alcoa of Australia Limited (45%) (Alcoa), Eastern Aluminium (Portland) Pty Ltd (10%) (EAPL), CITIC Nominees Pty Limited (22.5%) (Citic) and Marubeni Aluminium Australia Pty Ltd (22.5%)(Marubeni) (“Portland Joint Venture (PJV)”). Eastern Aluminium (Portland) Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcoa of Australia Limited. Alcoa Portland Aluminium Pty Ltd (Alcoa Portland) (also a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcoa) manages the smelter.

Our Victorian operations also include a coal mine and power station at Anglesea which supplies around 40% of the electricity needed to power the Point Henry Smelter.

In 2010, Alcoa of Australia mined around 33 million tonnes of bauxite, produced 9 million tonnes of alumina, and 490,000 tonnes of aluminium.

Alcoa produces almost 45% of Australia’s alumina and over 25% of Australia’s aluminium. Our alumina production in Western Australia accounts for 10-11% of total world demand.

Alcoa Australia Rolled Products, at Point Henry in Victoria and Yennora in Western Sydney, produces rolled aluminium products for beverage cans, wine screw tops, pharmaceutical packaging, building materials, road signs and boats. Alcoa Australia Rolled Products is the only manufacturer of aluminium rolled products in Australia and is also the largest recycler of aluminium in the country, recycling around 55,000 tonnes of aluminium each year at Yennora. In 2010, Alcoa Australia Rolled products produced 108,000 tonnes of aluminium rolled products.

Goonyella Riverside Open-cut Mine

Goonyella Riverside is a large open cut coking coal mine in the Bowen Basin. It is one of many coal mines in Central Queensland and is located at Moranbah about 30 km north of the townshop.

Shovel and dragline details on Goonyella.

Goonyella Riverside Mine Expansion (part of the gazetted Bowen Basin Coal Growth Project) was updated on 16 June 2014 here.

Australian industry sees weak finish to 2014

Australia’s manufacturing sector ended the year in contraction, according to the Australian Industry Group’s monthly Performance of Manufacturing Index survey.
The Ai Group’s PMI was down 3.2 points overall for the month to 46.9, meaning it slipped back into negative territory after November’s marginally expansionary result.
Any result under 50 in the PMI indicates contraction, and above it, expansion.
“We would have hoped to have seen a stronger Australian PMI in the lead-up to Christmas, but the finding is consistent with other publicly released data,” said the AiG’s chief executive, Innes Willox.
As with November, four of the eight sub-sectors tracked were in growth territory, led by Food, Beverages and Tobacco, which recorded a result of 60.4 (up 1.3 points).
Despite a falling dollar, which meanwhile hit a five-and-a-half-year low this morning, conditions remained difficult for the industry for a number of reasons. These included tight margins, with the input costs sub-index up to 70.3.
“Respondents to the Australian PMI welcomed the further depreciation in the Australian dollar, but noted that the level of the dollar continues to encourage strong import competition,” said Willox.
“Business sentiment and appetite for investment remain weak. The closure of Australian automotive assembly facilities now under way, plus the rapid decline in mining investment activity, are also weighing heavily on demand for locally made machinery inputs and components.”

Lonking loaders and new backhoe for Terex India

103633_2_previewTerex India has entered into a strategic marketing agreement with Chinese equipment manufacturer Lonking. It has also used the bC India exhibition to launch a new backhoe loader on the local market.

Under the terms of the branding and distribution agreement with Lonking, Terex will sell dual branded Terex-Lonking Chinese-made wheeled loaders through its distribution network in India. The agreement also allows for Terex to sell Lonking-made equipment in other selected south-east Asian markets.

In a reciprocal agreement, Lonking has the rights to sell Terex’s Indian-made backhoe loaders through its worldwide distribution network.

At this stage, the agreement is focussed on branding and distribution. Terex said that if market volumes were great enough, it would consider a joint venture arrangement for equipment manufacture.

The two Lonking-made wheeled loaders on display at the bC India exhibition are the 3 m3/5tonne capacity CDM 856 and 1.8 m3/3.5 tonne capacity CDM 835. They are branded in Terex-Lonking and are painted in yellow livery, as opposed to Terex’s characteristic white.

Also at the show, Terex took the wraps off a new backhoe loader for the Indian market, the TLB740SE. This features a curved excavator-style boom on the digging end, as opposed to the straight boom of other Indian Terex backhoes. Other innovations include a new hydraulic system which the company says helps reduce fuel consumption, a new loader front end with double-acting cylinders and a large cab.

Patrick buys Dampier Floating Deck

Oil industry service provider Patrick has reached a new agreement to acquire Apache Energy’s Dampier Floating Deck (DFD) platform.
The DFD is currently under construction at the Port of Dampier in Western Australia, and is due for completion in March 2015.
The DFD will service oil and gas support vessel operations and provide an additional two berths and a range of on-berth vessel provisioning /support services not previously available in the area.
Patrick Bulk and Automotive Ports Services director Murray Vitlich said the acquisition will expand Patrick’s existing oil and gas services capabilities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The Port of Dampier is positioned well to provide ongoing services to vessels supporting oil and gas projects as they transition from construction to operations over the coming years. This platform will strengthen our existing regional port operations servicing the oil and gas sector in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.”
A spokesperson for Patrick said the company had declined to reveal the cost of the deal.
Patrick will operate the DFD as an open access facility, and Apache Energy will become a foundation customer.

Consortium to develop 30 Mt/y Tavan Tolgoi coal mine

It is widely reported that a consortium of China’s Shenhua Energy, Japan’s Sumitomo and Mongolia’s Energy Resources (a subsidiary of Mongolian Mining Corp) has won the tender to develop the 7,400 Mt Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit in Mongolia, though none of the companies’ websites currently carry any announcement. The consortium is said to have beat bids from US-based mining company Peabody Energy and Japan’s Itochu. Steel First says the tender that has been won is “for the right to develop both East and West Tsankhi blocks of Tavan Tolgoi.”

The Government of Mongolia will retain full ownership of the mine, which is reported to be one of the world’s largest known untapped coking and thermal coal deposits. It is situated in the Ömnögovi Province and located around 240 km north of the Chinese border.

It is thought that, under the contract, the consortium will have to produce 30 Mt/y of coal at Tavan Tolgoi and deliver into at least two export markets.

The massive resource is divided into six sections: Tsankhi, Ukhaa Khudag, Bor tolgoi, Borteeg and southwest and eastern coalfields.

Energy Resources is already engaged in open-pit mining at the Ukhaa Khudag (UHG) deposit located within the Tavan Tolgoi coal formation in the Southern Gobi, some 560 km from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. The UHG mine is also strategically located about 600 km from Baotou, China, an important railway transportation hub providing access for Mongolian coal to the largest steel producing provinces in China.

Energy Resources holds mining license MV-11952 for the UHG coking coal deposit. Covering a licensed area of approximately 2,960 ha in size, the UHG deposit had around 701 Mt of JORC-compliant Measured, Indicated and Inferred resources as of 30 June 2012 and 315 Mt of ROM coal reserves as of 31 December 2012. According to Wood Mackenzie, the vast majority of the reserves falls within the highest quality parameters and is ideal for manufacturing needs at markets across the world. The company says that “due to its low stripping ratio, favorable geological conditions and proximity to its target market in China, MMC has lower operational costs than the majority of its competitors around the world.

The company commenced commercial mining operations at UHG in April 2009 and has steadily ramped up the ROM coal production at UHG from 1.8 Mt in 2009 to 3.9 Mt in 2010, 7.1 Mt in 2011 and 8.6 Mt in 2012. ROM coal production from UHG mine reached 9.2 Mt in 2013.

礼顿子公司约翰荷兰遭中国买家收购

中国交通建设股份有限公司近日从豪赫蒂夫公司的一家子公司手中收购了一家大型澳大利亚承包商.

该交易价值7.7亿欧元,豪赫蒂夫公司(Hochtief)子公司礼顿控股公司(Leighton Holdings)同意将约翰荷兰(John Holland)出售给中国交通建设股份有限公司(中国交建)。

将该澳大利亚承包商出售给中国交建的金融部门的举措适逢总部在德国的豪赫蒂夫公司更广范围的业务组合的瘦身运动。

10月份,该承包商决定剥离其海外资产,将其出售给海洋工程公司 GeoSea,并出售了其地产公司 Format 与 Aurelis。

约翰荷兰的出售有待澳大利亚外国投资审查委员会(Australian Foreign Investment Review)的审批。它将涉及将4100名员工转移给新企业。出售以后,礼顿的年销售额将减少约25亿欧元。

豪赫蒂夫和礼顿控股公司的CEO Marcelino Fernández Verdes说,“2014年6月,我们宣布作为我们战略评估的一部分,我们在对我们的服务、地产和约翰荷兰等企业的退路进行分析,包括将这些企业剥离,或者给他们引入新的合作伙伴的潜在可能性。

“约翰荷兰的剥离支持我们聚焦于减少举债经营,以及加强我们的收支平衡表,这样我们就可以维持我们的竞争力。”

该交易所得也将被用来投资于增长,尤其是公私合营伙伴关系方面。”

John Holland Group Pty Limited

John Holland Group Pty Limited, founded in Australia in 1949 and headquartered in Melbourne, ranks currently one of the top three construction enterprises in Australia with excellent reputation in the industry. It has three primary businesses, namely construction work, special engineering service and transportation service. John Holland has core technologies, mainly including railway system, tunneling, water service and sewage treatment, environmental protection, oceanographic engineering, and oil refining infrastructures. It’s worth mentioning that John Holland boasts the most powerful capabilities of railway construction and operation management in Australia, and can supply related services throughout Australia as the only company with both railway operation and infrastructure management licenses in Australia. Its total annual revenue in 2013 is 4.55 billion Australian dollars, and its uncompleted contract sum is approximately 5.51 billion Australian dollars at present.

中国交通建设股份有限公司(CCCC)

中国交建是世界500强企业,主要从事公路、桥梁、港口、码头、航道、铁路、隧道、市政等基础设施的勘察、设计、建设、监理,港口和航道的疏浚,海洋重型装备与港口机械、筑路机械的制造,以及交通基础设施投资、城市综合体开发运营和房地产开发业务等,拥有50家全资、控股子公司,业务足迹遍及世界120余个国家和地区,员工人数100535人。在2014年7月7日美国《财富》杂志最新公布的2014年世界500强排行榜中,中国交建以546.1亿美元的营业收入位列第187位,比上年提升了26位,继续保持在世界500强企业的中前列位置.
中国交建是中国最大的港口设计及建设企业,设计承建了建国以来绝大多数沿海大中型港口码头;世界领先的公路、桥梁设计及建设企业,参与了国内众多高等级主干线公路建设;世界第一疏浚企业,拥有世界最大的疏浚船队,耙吸船总舱容量和绞吸船总装机功率均排名世界第一;全球最大的集装箱起重机制造商,集装箱起重机业务占世界市场份额的78%以上,产品出口86个国家和地区的近200个港口;中国最大的国际工程承包商,中国交建(CCCC)、中国港湾(CHEC)、中国路桥(CRBC)、振华重工(ZPMC)等标志性品牌享誉全球;中国最大的设计公司,拥有13家大型设计院、8个国家级技术中心、18个省级技术中心、5个交通行业重点实验室、8个博士后科研工作站;中国第三大高速公路投资运营商,投资高速公路里程已超过2000公里;中国铁路建设的主力军,先后参与了武合铁路、太中银铁路、哈大客专、京沪高铁、沪宁城际、石武客专、兰渝铁路、湘桂铁路、宁安铁路等多个国家重点铁路项目的设计和施工;创造诸多世界“之最”工程,公司设计承建了全球10大集装箱码头中的5 个、世界10大斜拉桥中的5座、世界10大悬索桥中的4座和世界10大跨海大桥中的5座,上海洋山深水港、苏通长江大桥、杭州湾跨海大桥,以及正在实施的港珠澳大桥等工程,均代表了世界最高水平。

New Orange rotor series introduced for Metso VSI crushers

Orange-720x405Metso states: “Operational uptime plays a key role in today’s crushing operations, where maximising productivity and reducing the cost per tonne are paramount.” To meet these challenges, the company has developed its new Orange Series Rotor for vertical shaft impact (VSI) crushers. With the new rotors, Metso states that productive uptime can be increased substantially through longer parts lifetime and faster service. Barmac VSIs are widely used in mines, especially as tertiary or quaternary stage crushers.

The new Metso Orange Series Rotor components have been reconfigured with a built-in possibility for easy interchange and maximising of wear life. The change-out of primary components through the service door has also been improved. “With the Orange rotors, maintenance is made easy by reducing the total number of wear parts by 30% and the total number of components by 25%. This is achieved by integrating several components and using less fixing points. Hard-facing during maintenance is no longer required.”

Tuomas Takalo, Metso’s Product Manager for Barmac VSI crushers, describes the increase in wear parts life achieved with the Orange rotor as significant: “We have tested the new primary components in real quarry operations, achieving in most cases greatly enhanced wear life. For example, the tip life was increased by 30-50%. In quarry operations, the extended lifetime will provide the operator significantly increased operational uptime. Fewer intervals between wear parts changes will clearly increase the total capacities produced.”

The change-out of primary components for the Orange rotor through the service door has been improved greatly. “In tip and cavity wear plates replacement, the actual servicing time can be cut by more than half, due to simplified retaining bar fixing,” says Takalo. According to him, similar time savings can be achieved with other wear parts replacements.

The Orange Series Rotor was designed with the operators of the older models of Barmac VSI crushers in mind. The Orange Series Rotor can be fitted, without any modifications, to all VSI models that accept the following rotors: 690 DTR, 840DTR and 990DTR.