The US miner's extraction of bauxite near Perth is facing significant public scrutiny for the first time, and many are resisting what is happening to their beloved jarrah forest.
WA is the world's largest supplier of iron ore, lithium and garnet, the second-largest for diamonds and alumina, and in the top five for cobalt, gold, rare earths and zircon.
Battery-electric locomotive deliveries to all the big Pilbara iron ore miners are running late as heavy long-distance loads prove a technical challenge.
Alcoa has made last minute changes to its planned expansion of mining in WA's jarrah forest and wants to reenter a previously mined area, potentially triggering a new major federal environmental assessment.
The iron ore price that had held up in the economic chaos of 2020 is beginning to fall, and the worst case of $US50 a tonne would shatter government revenue just when it is needed the most.
WA’s charge into the battery minerals industry is gathering pace, with Kidman Resources and Chilean lithium giant SQM looking to build Kwinana’s second lithium refinery.
