Expansion
Rio Tinto Commits $1.9 billion to Kangwinan Bauxite, Adding 20Mt a Year by 2032
By News Desk ·
Key takeaways
- Rio Tinto will invest $1.9 billion in the Kangwinan bauxite project in Queensland, adding 20Mt per year.
- First output is targeted for 2029, with full production expected by 2032, lifting Weipa capacity to about 44Mt.
- The project replaces Andoom and offsets the end of mining at Gove, with an internal rate of return of about 22% based on Q4 2026 forecasts.
Rio Tinto will invest $1.9 billion in the Kangwinan bauxite project in Queensland, adding 20 million tonnes per year of capacity, according to TradingView. First output is targeted for 2029, with full production expected by 2032.
Kangwinan Adds 20Mt a Year at Weipa
Rio Tinto is a 150-year-old global mining and metals company producing iron ore, copper, aluminum, lithium and specialty minerals across 35 countries, according to akta.pro company records. The Kangwinan project lifts Weipa capacity to about 44 million tonnes per year, against roughly 38 million tonnes per year today.
The project replaces Andoom and offsets the end of mining at Gove, preserving volumes in Rio Tinto's integrated aluminum chain. The internal rate of return is about 22%, based on Q4 2026 forecasts. Rio Tinto's own announcement sets out the project details.
Rio Tinto's Recorded Scale and Funding
Rio Tinto's company profile lists operations in 35 countries across six continents with more than 60,000 employees, and an EBITDA mix of 60% iron ore and 40% copper, aluminum and lithium. The same records put 2025 underlying EBITDA at over $25 billion and total funding at $866.4 million, with the last round dated March 10, 2026.
Earlier Rio Tinto Moves This Month
On October 15, 2026, Journal quotidien La Tribune reported that Rio Tinto aims to increase iron ore production at Guinea's Simandou sixfold by 2028, targeting 60 million tons annually, after reaching about 10 million tons annualized in Q3 2026. On October 17, 2026, FinanzNachrichten.de reported that Rio Tinto and the Western Australian government are expanding the Dampier Seawater Desalination Plant with a 606 million AUD investment, doubling capacity to eight billion liters per year. On October 22, 2026, Bloomberg reported that Rio Tinto and China's state-backed China Mineral Resources Group reached a multiyear iron ore supply agreement covering supplies from November this year to May 2028.
What Comes Next for Kangwinan
First output at Kangwinan is targeted for 2029, with full production expected by 2032, and the project replaces Andoom while offsetting the end of mining at Gove.