The Yarwun Alumina Refinery is a major industrial processing facility located about 10km north-west of Gladstone in central Queensland.

Operated by Rio Tinto, the refinery processes bauxite into alumina, the key raw material used to produce aluminium in smelters. Construction of the facility began in 2002, with the first shipment of alumina exported in late 2004.

Using the Bayer refining process, bauxite—primarily sourced from Rio Tinto’s Weipa operations in Far North Queensland—is converted into high-grade alumina that is exported to aluminium smelters across Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific, as well as to Rio Tinto’s own smelting operations.

The refinery has a production capacity of roughly 3 million tonnes of alumina per year and employs around 700–725 workers, making it an important contributor to the Gladstone industrial region and Queensland’s aluminium supply chain.

Yarwun is also a site for technological innovation, including pilot projects investigating hydrogen use in alumina calcination to reduce emissions.

The refinery forms part of Rio Tinto’s integrated aluminium operations in the Gladstone region alongside the Queensland Alumina Refinery and Boyne Smelters.