The Australian reported that Australia’s federal government has agreed to back the construction of a proposed gas pipeline to supply Rio Tinto’s struggling Gove aluminum operations in the country’s Northern Territory.
As per report, the Territory's government is expected to sell up to 13% of its gas supply to keep the miner’s plant operational since it is the regions largest private enterprise.
Rio warned in September it was undertaking a review of the Gove bauxite mine and alumina refinery since it started losing about USD 200 million a year mainly due to the high costs of heavy diesel power generation.
The evaluation would address a range of alternatives, including the suspension of refinery operations until economic conditions improved. Gove employs about 1,400 people and produces over 8.2 million tonnes a year of bauxite as well as 2.65 million tonnes per year of alumina.
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