Darling Range Bauxite (Huntly & Willowdale) Feasibility Study: $55M NPV Over a 9-Year Mine Life
Alcoa Corporation's Darling Range Bauxite (Huntly & Willowdale) in Western Australia, Australia has a Feasibility Study outlining an after-tax NPV of $55M. The proposed mine plan runs 9 years.
Alcoa Corporation's Darling Range Bauxite (Huntly & Willowdale) has reported Feasibility Study results for the bauxite (alumina) project in Western Australia, Australia. The study headlines an after-tax net present value of $55M at a 9.5% discount rate. It reflects Alcoa Corporation's (AA) latest disclosed economics for the asset.
Economics. The after-tax NPV is $55M using a 9.5% discount rate. Economics are based on Average LOM Price Assumption $23.19/t.
Production and mine plan. The project envisions an open-pit operation. Life of mine is 9 years. Average head grade is 30.4% AL (Measured), 30.3% AL (Indicated), 32.4% AL (Inferred).
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 | 26.1 Mt | 29.2% AL, 1.61% SI | — |
| Probable | 397.6 Mt | 30.8% AL, 1.56% SI | — |
| Category | Tonnage | Grade | Contained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 139.6 Mt | 30.4% AL, 1.77% SI | — |
| Indicated | 48.7 Mt | 30.3% AL, 1.42% SI | — |
| Inferred | 101.4 Mt | 32.4% AL, 1.20% SI | — |
Our Analysis
- NPV after-tax
- $55M
higher than 7% of 462 projects we track
- Mine life
- 9yrs
- Study price assumption
- Average LOM Price Assumption $23.19/t
The headline number moved the wrong way, and it moved a long way. This feasibility study cuts the after-tax NPV by 88% against the 2023 pre-feasibility case, while mine life is unchanged at 9 years. A study that loses nearly nine-tenths of its value across an upgrade from PFS to FS is not a story about a project getting cheaper to build or better understood. It is a story about the economics themselves.
The offsetting fact is that this is now feasibility-level work, the build-ready estimate with the tightest confidence band a study can carry, so the revised figure deserves more weight than the one it replaced. That cuts against the project rather than for it: the weaker number is also the more reliable one. An after-tax NPV of $55M ranks above only 7% of the 462 projects we track across all commodities, and the 9-year life offers no scale to compensate. This is a modest asset by any measure, and the study's own returns place it near the bottom of the peer set.
Financing is not the constraint here. Against a company market cap of US$11.73B, a $55M NPV is a rounding error, and this sits as one of 9 projects in a diversified portfolio. Western Australia is a mining-friendly jurisdiction, and bauxite-alumina is a mainstream commodity. The problem is that nothing about the asset compels development: the study's $23.19/t average LOM price assumption is the single lever that decides whether $55M becomes something worth building, and the sensitivity around that assumption is the only question that matters.
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.
Get the next one first
Be the first to know about new mining results, and how they compare to other projects.