Rio Tinto, an Australian metals and mining company, and demolition contractor Liberty Industrial have begun a record-breaking recycling process on a large refinery.
Being called the “largest demolition project in Australia’s history,” dismantling and remediation works began at Rio Tinto’s Gove Refinery site in the country’s Northern Territory. The site processed bauxite into alumina from 1972 to 2014.
The site is expected to produce approximately 142,000 tonnes of scrap steel, which equates to 21 Eiffel Towers.
In the first year of the demolition, a shipment containing the site’s first 15,000 tonnes of scrap metal has left for Asia, where it will be recycled into new steel wire, bar, and beam products.
“We are very pleased with how this substantial project has been going, with the first of many scrap load outs successfully completed in better-than-expected time,” said Anthony Milanich, Liberty Industrial’s Director for the Gove Refinery project.
“We look forward to continuing our journey with Rio Tinto and Traditional Owners, who we consult and work with closely. This close collaboration has helped us find solutions to a number of challenges associated with a project of this size and complexity in a remote location.”