Darling Range Feasibility Study: $122M NPV Over a 9-Year Mine Life
Alcoa Corporation's Darling Range in Western Australia, Australia has a Feasibility Study outlining an after-tax NPV of $122M. The proposed mine plan runs 9 years.
Alcoa Corporation's Darling Range has reported Feasibility Study results for the bauxite project in Western Australia, Australia. The study headlines an after-tax net present value of $122M at a 12% discount rate. It reflects Alcoa Corporation's (AA) latest disclosed economics for the asset.
Economics. The after-tax NPV is $122M using a 12% discount rate. Economics are based on Average LOM bauxite price of $21.46/t.
Production and mine plan. The project envisions an open-pit operation. Life of mine is 9 years.
Resources and ownership. The company holds a 100% interest in the project.
These figures are extracted from Alcoa Corporation's technical disclosures and reflect the most recent Feasibility Study on file. Compare this project against other developers and producers in our project economics database, and always verify the numbers against the original technical report before making any investment decision.
Reserves & Resources
| Category | Tonnage | Grade | Contained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proven | 48.0 Mt | 29.1% AL, 1.65% SI | — |
| Probable | 296.0 Mt | 31.9% AL, 1.27% SI | — |
| Category | Tonnage | Grade | Contained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 93.0 Mt | 30.44% AL, 1.52% SI | — |
| Indicated | 105.4 Mt | 30.75% AL, 1.34% SI | — |
| Inferred | 106.9 Mt | 32.32% AL, 1.22% SI | — |
Our Analysis
- NPV after-tax
- $122M
higher than 15% of 403 projects we track
- Mine life
- 9yrs
- Study price assumption
- Average LOM bauxite price of $21.46/t
The bauxite project's after-tax NPV of $122M ranks above only 15% of the 403 projects we track, placing it firmly in the lower quartile of the peer set. That rank is not a dismissal, but it is a positioning statement: this is a modest, single-asset return profile, not a company-maker. The more instructive figure is the scale mismatch. With a market cap near US$11.94B and four other tracked projects in the portfolio, this asset is a rounding error on the balance sheet. The NPV is well below the company's market cap, which cuts both ways: either the market has already absorbed this project's value into the broader equity, or the project is simply too small to move the needle for a large-cap producer.
What the rank does not tell you is confidence, and that is where the feasibility study matters. At FS level, these numbers carry a plus or minus 15% band, the most build-ready estimate we see. The 9-year mine life in Western Australia, a mining-friendly jurisdiction, reduces permitting and sovereign risk. The study's average LOM bauxite price of $21.46/t is the key sensitivity; whether that assumption proves conservative or aggressive will determine whether the returns hold, but we cannot judge it without a comparable benchmark.
The practical constraint is not financing, given the company's size, but capital allocation. A project this small relative to the parent will only proceed if it competes internally for capital against larger, higher-returning options. The single question that decides whether this works is whether the company's management sees a $122M NPV bauxite project as a strategic fit for a diversified portfolio, or as a distraction from assets that rank higher in the peer set.
Our take, benchmarked against the project economics in the Mining Stocks database. Figures are estimates drawn from company technical reports — not investment advice; always verify against the source filing.