Australian bauxite developer Metallica Minerals has been granted a mining lease for its Urquhart bauxite project, located some 5km southwest of Weipa on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula.
Making the announcement, Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said the lease will allow the company and its JV partner – China’s Ozore Pty Ltd – to tap into three billion tonnes of undeveloped bauxite and create new Cape York jobs.
“The granting of this mining lease will support up to 26 jobs and allow the new mine to produce bauxite for export until 2033,” Dr Lynham said.
“This mining lease builds on the existing bauxite operations in the Cape which include Rio Tinto Alcan Weipa mines and Amrun Project under development and the Bauxite Hills mine under construction by Metro Mining Limited.”
“Queensland is a bauxite powerhouse and Australia is the world’s largest producer of bauxite, representing 30 per cent of global production.”
