Comalco Now International Force In Aluminium

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31729, 12 July 1968, Page 14

Comalco Now International Force In Aluminium

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) SYDNEY, July 11. The emergence of an international aluminium smelting group in New Zealand based on the North Queensland Weipa bauxite deposits will complete the third and most difficult objective of Comalco Industries Proprietary, Ltd, in developing Weipa, according to the Australian “Financial Review.”

Unlike most world aluminium groups, Comalco came into being only after obtaining outstanding bauxite deposits. The completion of the Lake Manapouri project at Bluff will make it a substantial world aluminium metal group. When it acquired the bauxite deposits, the company’s basic aim was to fit the material into the world aluminium scene which was dominated by large international groups. The first objective was to establish an integrated industry in Australia, the second was to organise a large alumina plant in Queensland and the third to establish an international aluminium smelter, the “Financial Review" reported. The first two objectives have been achieved and the third, an aluminium smelter at Lake Manapouri, appears likely to go ahead. In addition, the company has established large bauxite markets, including one as a result of backing the development of another alumina plant in Sardinia.

The Bluff project is another outlet for alumina and in turn for about 500,000 tons of Colmalco bauxite.

Comalco spent $2.5m in studying the power sources of the eastern coast of Australia and New Guinea before deciding on New Zealand. The company came to the conclusion that apart from Lake Manapouri there was no alternative power source in the South Pacific on which to base an international smelter. Electric power is a major cost of producing aluminium An Australian venture can be viable on higher power costs because of nearness to markets but an international venture based on exports must

have power costs competitive with anywhere in the world. The great advantage of hydro-electric power is that the costs remain fairly constant once the installations have been put In; and the great advantage of Lake Manapouri is the fact that nature has provided the water storage, says the “Financial Review.” In considering New Guinea and other hydro-electric schemes Comalco found that it would have been necessary to establish a dam with a consequent increase in capital costs—costs that would need

to be carried in full as the project was phased in. Comalco has made a detailed study of rainfall in the Lake Manapouri area and found that a duplication of the Tasmanian drought situation, or anything like it, is unknown in Manapouri recorded weather patterns. Originally, Comalco proposed to develop the power itself but when it invited international financiers to back the project they suggested that the power project should be a matter for the Government, the “Financial Review” says.