ÌÇÐÄvlogÈë¿Ú

Gladstone, Queensland

A hub for innovation based in Gladstone, Australia, Yarwun produces high quality alumina, which is exported to customers in Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific region – including our pacific aluminium smelters. 

Construction on our world-class Yarwun alumina refinery began in 2002, and the first alumina shipped in late 2004.

Reducing production by 40% from October 2026

Yarwun will reduce production by 40% from October 2026 to keep future options open for the refinery. This reduction allows us to extend the life of the asset an additional 4 years to 2035 – giving us more time to shape its future over the next decade. 

The driver is tailings: at current production rates, our tailings facility is expected to reach capacity in 2031, and we are facing economic challenges in building a second tailings facility. The additional 4 years gives us more time to work through tailings innovations that may extend the lifespan of the current facility. 

Researching ways to reduce our emissions: Hydrogen

Creating alumina takes a lot of energy, which in turn creates greenhouse gas emissions. We know new technologies will be essential to helping us reduce our emissions, but many haven’t been proven.

We are partnering with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Sumitomo Corporation on a first-of-a-kind hydrogen pilot plant at Yarwun.

Innovation at Yarwun

In 2018, Gladstone became the home of innovation – our Queensland Research and Development Centre (QRDC) relocated within Australia from Brisbane to Yarwun Refinery.

QRDC is our global centre for technology, research and development in the alumina refining process. The move confirms the need for our Research and Development team to be closer to our operations as a series of potentially game-changing technologies are trialled in the coming years.

The QRDC provides laboratory and technical support to the Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) and Yarwun Alumina refineries, northern Australia bauxite mines, and to support our bauxite sales into China.

The Yarwun and QAL refineries provide test platforms for our bauxite technologies globally, which helps market our northern Australian bauxite all around the world.

We have been a member of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) since January 2015, and the Yarwun refinery has been certified against the ASI Performance Standard and ASI Chain of Custody Standard as part of our commitment to responsible production and sourcing of aluminium.

Yarwun communities

We contribute to the broader Gladstone community through ÌÇÐÄvlogÈë¿ÚCommunity Giving, which is supported by Yarwun, Boyne Smelters and QAL. Since we started our formal community programs in 2002, our sites have invested A$7.2 million into the Gladstone community across a range of projects to improve the health, livelihood and welfare of the Gladstone community.