‘Smelter Plans By End Of September’

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31017, 24 March 1966, Page 14

‘Smelter Plans By End Of September’

(New Zealand Frees Association)

INVERCARGILL, March 23.

Comalco Industries Pty., Ltd., is working on its plans for an aluminium smelter at Bluff and expects to have them fairly clearly defined by the end of September.

Advice of that has been received by the Mayor of Invercargill (Mr N. L. Watson) from the managing director of Comalco Industries, Mr D. J. Hibberd.

It is the firmest statement on the subject since Comalco released its Manapouri water rights to the Crown.

Comalco and Government representatives have reteirated many times, and at least three times this year, that smelter plans for Bluff are unchanged. A smelter at Bluff would be part of a £lOO million-plus aluminium complex, which is at an advanced stage of development by Comalco for Conzinc Riotinto of Australia, Ltd. Kaiser Aluminium, Ltd., of Canada and Rechiney, of France, are involved in part of the Australian developments.

The aluminium complex is based on what are said to be the world’s greatest deposits of bauxite (aluminium ore).

already being mined in Queensland. Ore will be processed into alumina—aluminium oxide in Queensland and it is expected that part of the eventual alumina production would be sent to any Bluff smelter to be made into metal, a process requiring a large amount of cheap electricity. Mr Hibberd’s letter to Mr Watson is in reply to advice that the Invercargill Town Clerk (Mr L. A. Best) will call on Comalco this week when in Melbourne, where he has gone to address the annual conference of the Victorian division of the Australian Institute of Municipal Administration.

Mr Hibberd says: “We shall be delighted to welcome Mr Best to Melbourne and to hear about the progress of Invercargil. . . . We are working upon our plans for the Bluff smelter and expect to have them pretty clearly defined by the end of September.

“Meanwhile, our chief power engineer, Mr B. Gardner, is keeping in touch with the Ministry of Works and the Department of Electricity on the technical side of the Manapouri project.”