The value of US miner Alcoa dropped $650 million after Wall Street was told there was “no fixed timetable” for gaining access to new areas of jarrah forest to mine.
Premier Roger Cook may choose not to stop Alcoa extending its lease to 2045,but the US miner has numerous environmental obstacles to continue extracting bauxite from south-west WA.
The Melbourne-based company that owns 40 per cent of Alcoa’s WA operation has defended its mining against claims it threatens Perth’s water supply and the jarrah forest.
US bauxite miner Alcoa is having to reassure US investors that its crucial WA operations are not imperilled by concerns its land clearing threatens Perth’s water supply.
Bunnings is monitoring whether timber harvested by the WA government is sustainable amid concerns about the US miner’s rehabilitation of WA’s south west forests.
The bauxite miner has a month to avoid heavy winter rain causing stored contaminated water to overflow into surrounding forest and water catchment.
Alcoa thinks its existing behind-closed-doors approval systems can be modified to better protect the environment but if the independent EPA takes over what happens next is unknown.
The US aluminum giant and its Australian partner had a good year in 2022,but its activities now threaten its social license in Western Australia.
WA Premier Mark McGowan,normally a vociferous supporter of mining,has made clear to US bauxite miner Alcoa that anywhere that threatens Perth’s dams is a no-go.
According to an internal Water Corporation assessment,US aluminium giant Alcoa’s clearing of WA jarrah forest in water catchments threatens the cost,reliability and quality of Perth’s water supply.
Environment Minister Reece Whitby has lashed Alcoa over its failure to rehabilitate Western Australia’s jarrah forest to an acceptable standard after 60 years of mining.