Worsley Alumina Refinery — Australia

Worsley Alumina Refinery is an aluminium smelter in Australia. Its listed capacity is 4,700,000 t of alumina/aluminum. Aluminium smelters use large electric currents to refine alumina into molten aluminium above 900°C, and the hot metal must flow through crucibles and casting equipment. It is operated by South32 Ltd. By capacity it ranks #1 among 12 aluminium smelters in Australia. It emits about 6,165,225 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 14% of the CO₂e from the 30 facilities in Australia that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 37% below the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-43765099.

In context: how this facility compares

At 4,700,000 t of alumina/aluminum, Worsley Alumina Refinery is well above the median aluminium smelter in Australia (1,107,004 t of alumina/aluminum). Subsector: aluminum. As aluminium smelter, it requires high process heat (typically 600–900°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. Aluminium smelters use large electric currents to refine alumina into molten aluminium above 900°C, and the hot metal must flow through crucibles and casting equipment.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 6,165,225 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest aluminium smelters in Australia

Listed capacity (t of alumina/aluminum), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by South32 Ltd. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Worsley Alumina Refinery sits in a warm-summer Mediterranean climate zone (Köppen Csb), at 33.2°S in the southern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with marine corrosion the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1344 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.03× the loss at a 20 °C reference. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #1 largest of 12 aluminium smelters in Australia by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Collie Shire · Aluminium Smelter · 1,277,859 t CO₂
• Wagerup Alumina Refinery · Aluminium Smelter · 3,804,075 t CO₂
• Bunbury City · Aluminium Smelter · 1,103,605 t CO₂
• Waroona Shire · Aluminium Smelter · 813,183 t CO₂
• Pinjarra Alcoa Alumina Refinery · Aluminium Smelter · 5,593,000 t CO₂
• Murray Shire · Aluminium Smelter · 1,452,112 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates -33.23928, 116.07012. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions