Welcome to Alcoa’s Anglesea Community Update for Q3, 2025

With spring in full swing, we are pleased to report that 2025 has been both productive and safe, as we continue with rehabilitation activities across our former mine and power station sites.

The last quarter saw the continuation of our groundwater licence amendment application assessment by Southern Rural Water, notably including the opportunity for the community to share their thoughts.

In the update below, I am pleased to share with our readers the status of this process, along with some great achievements made against our 2025 focus areas.

Warren Sharp | Site Asset Manager

Environment, health and safety

Consistent with our values and actions both during operation and since closure, critically we’ve maintained our track record of achieving zero injuries and maintaining full environmental compliance for all activities conducted across the site.

As required by the Environmental Action Notice, a six-monthly status report was submitted to EPA Victoria in June 2025.

Power station remediation

After undertaking a variety of remediation activities over several years under the oversight of an EPA-appointed auditor, we are pleased to report that we have now finally completed environmental remediation works on the power station site, bringing this important and almost ten-year strategic activity to an end.

We have commenced preparations for the last step in the process, to obtain the EPA-appointed auditor Site Audit Statement confirming satisfactory completion of works and suitability of the site for potential future land uses.

Image above: Final harrowing of repaired slope, in preparation for grass establishment.

Maintenance and monitoring

We continue to implement our robust mine maintenance and monitoring program – an integral component to achieving our objective of a safe, stable and sustainable landform.

This program includes ongoing weed management, erosion repairs, stability monitoring, water monitoring, and regular geotechnical and vegetation expert inspections – activities that are expected to continue for the next five to 10 years.

Geotechnical stability

A bi-monthly geotechnical inspection of the mine as part of our ongoing regulatory requirements was undertaken in August by Alcoa’s geotechnical consultant, with no significant issues identified.

Weed removal works

We continue to routinely inspect for and remove noxious and invasive weeds from our patch, with recent activity including:

Commencement of the site’s bi-monthly Serrated Tussock control program in late-September, which to date has proved effective in controlling the regulated noxious weed
Ongoing woody weed removal, including Sallow Wattle and Boneseed, in various areas within and around the former mine, with more than 100 hectares expected to be treated this year
Ongoing trials for treatment of exotic weeds in the mine grasslands, including Fescues and Great Brome

Erosion repair

Surficial minor erosion repairs are undertaken periodically, where required, along with improvements to reduce erosion where possible.

Recently, this has included:

Lower slope mine area erosion repair works due to rainwater runoff
Construction of additional lateral drains around the southern and western walls of the former mine area to better protect the lower 1:3 slopes
Preparing for further implementation of a vegetation cover on the mine’s lower slopes, based on successful trial works undertaken in 2024

Lower slope sterile kikuyu application

October will see works commence on applying a grass (sterile kikuyu) cover on approximately half of the lower slopes of the former mine area, supporting our long-term erosion mitigation strategy.

Sterile kikuyu has been carefully selected as it cannot spread by seeding and is easily controlled to the lower slopes, while providing a high level of rapid vegetation cover.

The lower slope grass cover will be displaced by water as the water body fills.

Preparation works have included:

Irrigation system installation for watering of newly sown grasses through the first summer period
Lime application on the 1:3 lower slopes to correct the soil pH ahead of grass application during late-October

The grass will be applied using sprigs followed by hydromulch (including a green dye) from late October to early November.

Mine water filling strategy

Commencing in May, Southern Rural Water invited the community to share their thoughts on our formal groundwater licence amendment application, which was submitted to the regulator in July 2024.

This process included an opportunity for community members to share their views through a public comment period during June and July, a community information session and a public submission hearing in August which provided an opportunity for individuals to talk to their submission – including Alcoa and our expert hydrogeologist.

Alcoa recognises the high level of community and stakeholder interest, and we welcome the rigour involved in the regulatory process to help decision makers reach an informed decision that takes environmental, social, technical and cultural factors into consideration. As a long-time member of the community, we continue to engage with stakeholders regarding current and future plans.

This application is a significant step towards achieving our rehabilitation objectives to return a safe and sustainable site that ensures long-term environmental and community outcomes for the Anglesea region.

Following the outcome of the application process, we will be in a position to deliver a final Mine Rehabilitation and Closure Plan, bringing us closer to returning the site to the community.

The current draft Plan is viewable on our website. Following a decision on our groundwater licence amendment application, the Plan will be reviewed and finalised, inclusive of community feedback.

Read more about the strategy and FAQs by visiting our website.

Future land uses

We continue to investigate options for Alcoa freehold land use in line with the Alcoa Freehold Master Plan, developed through significant community feedback, and the Anglesea Futures Land Use Framework.

Community

A number of groups have joined us recently onsite to witness the extensive amount of remediation work undertaken to date and learn firsthand about our proposed plans.

Visitors included students from Damascus College and members from Angair Inc.

In addition to onsite engagements, we extend thanks to those who popped past our display at the wonderful Angair Annual Wildflower and Arts weekend in late-September. Over the weekend, our team engaged in a number of positive interactions with event-goers interested in learning more about the work we’re doing and the progress made to date.

If you have any feedback or questions for Alcoa, or would like a tour of the site, please do not hesitate to contact the Anglesea team via angleseaps@alcoa.com.au.

To read more about our activities including previous updates, visit our website.