Darling Range (Huntly and Willowdale) Bauxite Operations Feasibility Study: $1.32B NPV Over a 7-Year Mine Life
Alcoa Corporation's Darling Range (Huntly and Willowdale) Bauxite Operations in Southwest of Western Australia, Australia has a Feasibility Study outlining an after-tax NPV of $1.32B. The proposed mine plan runs 7 years.
Alcoa Corporation's Darling Range (Huntly and Willowdale) Bauxite Operations has reported Feasibility Study results for the bauxite (alumina) project in Southwest of Western Australia, Australia. The study headlines an after-tax net present value of $1.32B at a 9% discount rate. It reflects Alcoa Corporation's (AA) latest disclosed economics for the asset.
Economics. The after-tax NPV is $1.32B using a 9% discount rate. Economics are based on Average bauxite price of $25.49/tonne over LOM.
Production and mine plan. The project envisions an open-pit (contour mining) operation. Life of mine is 7 years. Average head grade is 32% A.Al2O3 (average product A.Al2O3 grade 33%, 2010-2020).
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 | 108.6 Mt | 32.4% A.Al2O3, 1.01% R.SiO2 | — |
| Probable | 132.7 Mt | 32.2% A.Al2O3, 1.38% R.SiO2 | — |
| Category | Tonnage | Grade | Contained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 48.0 Mt | 32.9% A.Al2O3, 1.11% R.SiO2 | — |
| Indicated | 34.8 Mt | 31.9% A.Al2O3, 1.12% R.SiO2 | — |
| Inferred | 320 Mt | 33.0% A.Al2O3, 1.2% R.SiO2 | — |
Our Analysis
- NPV after-tax
- $1.32B
higher than 74% of 476 projects we track
- Mine life
- 7yrs
- Study price assumption
- Average bauxite price of $25.49/tonne over LOM
A seven-year mine life is the first thing to register here, and it is the constraint that shapes everything else. This is a feasibility study, the build-ready estimate that typically carries a plus or minus 15% band, so the numbers deserve more weight than a scoping exercise would. But a seven-year reserve base on a producing bauxite operation in south-west Western Australia leaves little room for the operational stumbles that inevitably appear in the first years of a build. There is no long tail to absorb a bad ramp-up, a grade miss or a cost overrun. What you are underwriting is a relatively short, high-confidence cash flow stream, not a multi-decade franchise.
Against the 476 projects we track across all commodities, the after-tax NPV of $1.32B ranks higher than 74% of them. That is a genuinely strong position, and it is the headline. The complication is scale: this NPV is roughly 0.1x the company's US$11.73B market cap, and the project sits as one of 11 in a diversified portfolio. For an investor, that combination cuts two ways. A single asset this size relative to a large-cap balance sheet will not move the equity on its own, which means the company is unlikely to be re-rated on this project alone. The upside is that funding a build of this scale is not a bet-the-company proposition.
The study assumes an average bauxite price of $25.49/tonne over the life of mine, and that assumption is the sensitivity worth watching: the returns rest on it, and a seven-year reserve gives the operation limited time to recover if realised prices fall short of it. The question that decides this project is whether a seven-year mine can generate enough cash, at that assumed price, to justify the capital before the reserve runs out.
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.