The Western Australian government is revising the regulatory and environmental arrangements around Alcoa’s bauxite mining operations, with the process designed to provide heightened environmental oversight while maintaining operational consistency.
The new strategy allows the company to continue its WA operations and safeguard thousands of regional jobs while the independent Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) conducts a formal and rigorous assessment of Alcoa’s long-term bauxite mining proposals.
Alcoa is currently operating under an exemption order issued through the state government’s transitional approvals framework, which allows its operations to continue while the EPA completes its assessment.
An updated mining management program (MMP) is being finalised by the Department of Energy, and as part of the process, the exemption order must be updated to align with the revised MMP.
The updated MMP and exemption will be finalised in the coming weeks before being tabled in Parliament, with the current order remaining in place until the new one comes into effect.
It is not yet clear what the exact changes will be, or if there will be stricter controls on clearing.
WA Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn said the alteration struck a balance between protecting the environment and the economic benefits of the operations.
He said: “The state government is updating the regulatory arrangements that apply to Alcoa’s operations.
“As part of this process, the new MMP and exemption order will be aligned to deliver strong environmental protection while providing certainty for ongoing mining activity.
“This process forms part of the Cook Labor government’s commitment to maintaining robust environmental protections while supporting local jobs and keeping Western Australia’s economy the strongest in the country.”
In February, Alcoa received a $55-million fine after it unlawfully cleared parts of Western Australia’s northern jarrah forest to mine bauxite.
According to the federal government, Alcoa cleared known habitat for nationally protected species between 2019 and 2025 without seeking the required environmental approvals.
The company struck a deal with the federal government to pay the multi-million-dollar sum through enforceable undertakings by rehabilitating bulldozed and mined areas.
The federal government has imposed an enforceable undertaking on Alcoa to spend at least $40 million on land purchases by the end of 2026, and another undertaking to spend $15 million for clearing 1,777 hectares of jarrah forest – an area equivalent to four of Perth’s Kings Park – between 2019 and 2023.
As part of the penalty, Alcoa will be required to deliver “permanent ecological offsets to preserve important habitat”, as well as improved conservation and invasive species management programs.
Alcoa is reportedly facing an additional federal investigation, with the latest probe understood to focus on alleged illegal land clearing at the company’s southern Willowdale mine, which supplies the Wagerup refinery and is earmarked as the site of a proposed multinational-backed gallium plant.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said its investigation was ongoing and it would not comment further.
An Alcoa spokesperson said the company “acknowledged” the state government’s move.
The spokesperson said: “Alcoa is committed to rapidly modernising to a more contemporary approvals framework for our mining operations and operating in line with stakeholder and community expectations.
“Over the past two years, we have increased annual rates of new rehabilitation work from around 500 hectares in 2023 to 793 in 2025, and remain on track to achieve 1000 hectares by 2027.
“In addition, we have honoured commitments to move operations further away from drinking water reservoirs and protect important cockatoo habitat.”
Jess Boyce, Director of the WA Forest Alliance, said the federal government’s labelling of Alcoa’s clearing as a “deliberate repeat breach” indicated the company was “well aware that it was acting with blatant disregard for environmental law”.
Boyce said: “The question is, why did the federal government not only let this continue for two years, rather than halt clearing, but has now given Alcoa an exemption to continue clearing despite proving it can’t be trusted?”
Alcoa acknowledged it destroyed the known habitat of protected species, but denied it had breached the law.
Alcoa has been mining in the northern Jarrah forests for six decades and works under an alternative mechanism to the typical EPA approvals process, which grants the company a mineral lease covering more than 7,000 square kilometres of forest and approves it to mine within the lease area, subject to submitting its mine plans.
Three-quarters of the United States-based miner’s bauxite production is mined in WA.
The company’s Australian operations include strip mining of bauxite in the jarrah forest water catchments along the Darling Scarp, alumina refineries in Pinjarra and Wagerup, and a 55 per cent stake in the Portland aluminium smelter in Victoria.
Last year, it received about $6.1 billion from alumina and aluminium sales, paid $4.9 billion to employees and suppliers, and sent $636 million of dividends to its owners.
After posting an $818 million profit in 2024, Alcoa reported a $592 million loss in 2025, due to paying a significant share of the $1.7 billion cost to close and remediate its Kwinana refinery.
