Alcoa’s Huntley Mine is a finalist in the 5th Annual Australian Mining Prospect Awards for their commitment to environmental standards during the construction of a new crusher site.
Huntly mine is the largest bauxite mine in the world, producing 23 million tonnes of bauxite annually to supply the Kwinana and Pinjarra alumina refineries.
The establishment of the McCoy Crusher site was integral to the long term planning for the Huntly mine to supply the refineries.
In the construction process the team at Huntley Mine went above and beyond the environmental standards set out for them.
The team developed new technologies, installed industry leading practice facilities, designed for improved energy and water efficiency, and minimised disturbance to the environment.
There were three aspects paramount to the success of the McCoy project, firstly the facilities had to be designed to meet current industry best practice or set new benchmarks.
The second was to ensure all aspects of the project met Alcoa’s stringent Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) standards.
The last aspect was to construct the facility without any reportable occupational health and safety incidents or significant environmental incidents.
Operating under the most rigorous EHS standards has enabled the Huntly Mine was able to achieve a health and safety and environmental management record.
The site was fully commissioned in December 2004 and met the sustainability objectives
set out for the first three years.