Rio Tinto joint venture Dampier Salt will sell its Lake MacLeod salt and gypsum operation in Carnarvon, WA, for $375 million.
Privately-owned salt company Leichhardt Industrials Group is set to become the new owner of Lake MacLeod, one of three solar salt sites owned by Dampier Salt.
Rio Tinto managing director port, rail and core services Richard Cohen said the sale would allow Dampier Salt to focus on enhancing its two other operations in Port Hedland and Dampier.
“Until the completion of the sale, the Dampier Salt leadership team’s focus will be on safety, delivering on plan, and maintaining respect for all people at Lake MacLeod and in the Carnarvon community,” Cohen said.
“We are pleased Leichhardt has committed to retaining all Lake MacLeod employees, ensuring continuity of operation and providing job stability to the 130-strong workforce.”
Cohen confirmed that Dampier Salt currently has no plans to sell its other two assets.
Lake MacLeod is located within Baiyungu country in the Gascoyne region of WA, 70km north of Carnarvon. It consists of a 1.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) salt operation and 1 Mtpa gypsum operation as well as a deepwater port at Cape Cuvier.
It is currently the world’s largest exporter of seaborne salt with annual production capacity of approximately 10 million tonnes.
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