Darling Range Bauxite Operations Feasibility Study: $122M NPV Over a 9-Year Mine Life
Alcoa Corporation's Darling Range Bauxite Operations 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 Bauxite Operations 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 Price Assumption: $21.46/t bauxite.
Production and mine plan. The project envisions an open-pit operation. Life of mine is 9 years. Average head grade is 29.1% AL, 1.65% SI (Proven); 31.9% AL, 1.27% SI (Probable).
Resources and ownership. The company holds a 60% 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 488 projects we track
- Mine life
- 9yrs
- Study price assumption
- Average LOM Price Assumption: $21.46/t bauxite
A feasibility study that cuts after-tax NPV by 91% while extending mine life by 29% is telling you something specific: this is not a project that got cheaper to build or better priced, it is one that got stretched. Nine years of production now carry a fraction of the value the 2022 study claimed, and the arithmetic points to the same conclusion from either direction, whether the earlier estimate was too generous or this one is simply more honest about a bauxite operation in Western Australia.
The confidence question matters more than usual here. This is feasibility-level work, the build-ready estimate with its plus or minus 15% band, so the $122M after-tax NPV is not a scoping-stage placeholder that can be waved away. It ranks higher than only 15% of the 488 projects we track across all commodities. That is the number that should anchor any view of the asset, and it sits against a company with a US$11.80B market cap and 13 projects in our coverage. For a diversified large-cap, a single feasibility-stage bauxite asset at this NPV is a rounding error, not a thesis driver, and the gap between the two is less a mispricing than a rational allocation of attention.
The price assumption is where the sensitivity lives: $21.46 per tonne of bauxite across the life of mine, a long-run figure the study has chosen and that the returns rest on entirely. Everything hinges on that number holding, and on whether a nine-year, feasibility-defined operation can be financed and built to that estimate. The question that decides this project is not whether the NPV is real, but whether the 91% collapse reflects a genuinely more conservative study or a deteriorating asset, because only the first is recoverable.
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.