May 5 2004
BHP Billiton today announced the approval of the US$192 million (US$165 million BHP Billiton share) Worsley Alumina Development Capital Projects (DCP) in Australia.
DCP is designed to take advantage of latent capacity in the plant through a series of 28 packages of work. These include additions to the precipitation circuit, additional bauxite residue washing and disposal facilities plus utilities and electrical infrastructure upgrades.
The result will be an increase in alumina production of 250,000 tonnes per annum (215,000 tonnes per annum BHP Billiton share) to a capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum (3.01 million tonnes per annum BHP Billiton share). Commissioning and completion of DCP is expected by the first quarter of calendar year 2006 with the resulting production ramp-up to be achieved by the end of the second quarter of calendar year 2006.
President Aluminium, Alex Vanselow said: "The project is a rapid response to meet the strong and growing demand for alumina. The DCP offers attractive economic returns and a solid platform for future expansions at Worsley."
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