Tanya Plibersek backs $1.4b Pilbara salt project ‘game changer’

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has signed off and backed a $1.4 billion salt project, declaring the BCI Minerals plan for the Pilbara a green energy “game changer”.

The green light for the Mardie project — the first of its kind in more than 25 years — meant BCI could start filling its first three evaporation ponds with saltwater.

Once operational, Mardie will be tipped to produce 5.3 million tonnes of salt a year, a rate that will propel BCI to become one of the top three global producers.

“This is an enormous and ambitious project and that’s why the Government’s prepared to back it,” Ms Plibersek said.

“Projects like this show we can support industry while also protecting the environment,” she said.

“It’s good to see big, industrial projects like this relying on renewable energy.

“If we get to the stage of batteries that rely on salt, that will be an absolute game changer, but we know that even today salt is absolutely necessary in a whole range of industrial processes, so this will be an important project for Australian industry but also for export.”

Salt from Mardie will be used for industrial chemicals, which are then used to create aluminium, glass, solar panels, ceramics, paints, and plastics. WA Premier Roger Cook said the project was of critical importance, given the global shortage of industrial salt.

“This project is absolutely vital, not only for global supply chains but to diversify the Western Australian economy,” he said. “This is a sustainable project that will carry Western Australian jobs for literally decades to come.”

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said it was “an important project for Western Australia” and would create jobs and diversify the iron ore-reliant region.

BCI chairman Brian O’Donnell said the company had been working with various State and Federal government departments for several years to finalise the approvals.

“It’ll be the biggest salt-producing project in Australia,” he said.

Managing director David Boshoff said securing the approval was “an important and pivotal moment for BCI Minerals as we move into the next phase of becoming Australia’s newest, high-quality industrial salt producer.”

“Australia hasn’t developed a salt project of this significance in 25 years, and the Mardie project will be Australia’s largest solar salt project and the third-largest globally,” he said.

Mardie received a $490 million loan from the Federal Government’s Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility in December 2023.

The first salt is expected to be exported from Mardie, located about 80km from Karratha, in the second quarter of FY27.

The company is banking on strong demand in Asia. Mr O’Donnell said it would “deliver a great, sustainable and responsible project”.

WA businessman Kerry Stokes has a 35 per cent stake in BCI, and AustralianSuper — the nation’s biggest super fund — has a 31 per cent stake.