Boyne Smelters Limited (BSL) is a major aluminium smelting operation located at Boyne Island, about 12km south of Gladstone in Central Queensland. Operating since 1982, the facility is one of Australia’s largest aluminium smelters and has the capacity to produce more than 500,000 tonnes of aluminium each year.

The smelter converts alumina into aluminium metal using an energy-intensive electrolytic process. Alumina feedstock is supplied via conveyor from the nearby Queensland Alumina Limited refinery in Gladstone. Within the plant, carbon anodes are manufactured, alumina is reduced in large potlines to produce molten aluminium, and the metal is cast into ingots and other products ready for shipment.

Boyne Smelters is operated by a joint venture led by Rio Tinto, with Japanese partners including YKK Aluminium, UACJ Australia and Southern Cross Aluminium.

The operation forms a key part of Queensland’s aluminium production chain, linking bauxite mining in Weipa, alumina refining in Gladstone, and aluminium smelting at Boyne Island for export to global manufacturing markets.