Australia’s first new salt operation in over 30 years has entered full-scale operations, with BCI Minerals Ltd’s Mardie Salt and Potash Project now officially producing at commercial scale. The project is set to deliver 5.35 million tonnes of industrial salt annually, making it not only the largest in Australia but also the third-largest globally.
A significant milestone was reached following Commonwealth and Western Australian Government approval of the project’s updated Groundwater Monitoring and Management Plan (GMMP), enabling BCI to begin filling all evaporation ponds and commissioning the first crystallisers.
Located on the Pilbara coast, the Mardie Project will draw on an environmentally efficient process, with more than 99% of its energy needs powered by solar and wind. An innovative seawater strategy will see ponds filled from both the northern and southern ends of the site, with full capacity expected before the 2025–26 summer, optimising conditions for large-scale salt production.
The Mardie Project is expected to deliver long-term economic value, with a 60-year operational life forecast to contribute over A$4.8 billion to national gross domestic product and generate more than 1,000 jobs. It also positions itself as a value-adding resource operation by planning to recycle residual brine (bitterns) to produce Sulphate of Potash (SOP), a high-value fertiliser.
BCI Managing Director David Boshoff said, “We’re the newest salt producer, bringing the latest technology to produce a commodity that is essential in manufacturing thousands of products used in everyday life.”
“Together, we’ve paved the way for a world-class salt operation to come online, bringing multigenerational benefits to Australia.”
The Mardie Salt and Potash Project
- The Mardie Project will be the largest solar salt project in Australia and the third largest globally, producing 5.3 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of high-quality industrial salt for export from late next year.
- The project is the only substantial Australian salt operation to be developed in almost three decades and will capitalise on the growing global supply shortage for industrial salt.
- Located 80 kilometres south of Karratha, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the Mardie Project has an operating life expected to exceed 60 years.
- The project stretches over 100 square kilometres, or the equivalent of the distance from Manly to Parramatta in Sydney, or from Fremantle to Perth Airport.
- BCI has obtained a Syndicated Financial Agreement (SFA) of A$981 million in project debt finance from key lenders comprising the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), Export Finance Australia, Export Development Canada, Westpac Banking Corporation and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, to fund the salt-first component of the Mardie Project.