Alcoa: Miner’s plans to drill in Armadale, Kalamunda, Mundaring, Beverley and York shires abandoned

American mining giant Alcoa has forged a hasty retreat in the Perth Hills after a bid to drill searching for bauxite came under community pressure. The company on Monday announced an updated mining plan through to 2029 which will remove exploration sites in the Armadale, Kalamunda, Mundaring, Beverley and York local government areas. It’s the latest battle for the alumina exporter after two years of scrutiny over the business’s troubled rehabilitation efforts and the impact of mining on the State’s water supply. Alcoa shut down the ageing Kwinana refinery in part because it was unable to access hire grade ore deposits due to the sprawling environmental fights. Refineries in Wagerup and Pinjarra remain operational processing bauxite ore into alumina — a product exported and smelted to become aluminium, a metal used in fridges and fighter jets. That industry earned about $7.4bn for the State in 2024. The disputed exploration drilling sites were named in Alcoa’s mining plans for 2023 to 2027, awaiting approval from the Environmental Protection Authority; and for 2025 to 2029, soon to be presented to State Development Minister Roger Cook. It’s understood the sites were not major targets for the business. Alcoa regulatory approvals director Kane Moyle said the decision followed community input. “While exploration drilling is a low-impact activity and does not indicate an intention to mine an area but rather to broaden geological knowledge of the region, we understand the strong environmental and social values of the Perth Hills to local communities and the broader public,” he said in a statement. Cancelling the proposed drilling plan would not impact ore supply to Pinjarra or Wagerup, the company said. Shire of Mundaring — among the local councils opposing the drilling plan — boss Paige McNeil declared the move a “significant win for our community and our environment”. Western Australian Forest Alliance director Jess Boyce said the environmental group was “glad” Alcoa withdrew the plans but wanted the decision made “permanent”. “We will not stand by as these forests and drinking water catchments are put back on the agenda in years to come, after Alcoa has used the goodwill of this temporary retreat to try and gain access to not just explore, but mine a further 11,500 hectares of forests.” She said the company was mining within 1 kilometre of the Serpentine Dam reservoir — and urged the State Government to ban mining in reservoir protection zones. The Conservation Council of WA executive director Matt Roberts said Alcoa had lost social licence and “the destruction of our precious jarrah forests will no longer be tolerated”. He said almost 59,000 submissions had been lodged with the EPA against Alcoa’s expansion plans.