COVID-19

Rio Tinto labs turn out hand sanitiser

Local labs using Canadian formula to make their own hand sanitiser.

Researchers at Bell Bay Aluminium are getting ready to turn out another 75L of hand sanitiser.

Researchers at Bell Bay Aluminium are getting ready to turn out another 75L of hand sanitiser.

Australia's Mining Monthly is making some of its most important coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic freely available to readers. For more coverage, please see our COVID-19 hub. To subscribe to AMM, click here.

The company has turned to making its own hand sanitiser products to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and ease growing demand for the product in local communities.

Chemists and researchers at Bell Bay Aluminium in Tasmania, Yarwun Alumina Refinery at Gladstone and New Zealand Aluminium Smelter at Tiwai Point have developed hand sanitiser to World Health Organisation specifications for on-site use.

At Bell Bay a 5 litre test batch was made. Ethanol has been sourced to make another 75L of hand sanitiser and work on that batch has begun.

At NZAS 103L of hand sanitiser has been produced and is already in use across the site.

At Yarwun a 5L test batch has been developed.

Rio Tinto Aluminium Pacific Operations managing director Kellie Parker said the company's priority was the wellbeing of its people and the communities it operated in.

"Using the knowledge of our local teams to develop hand sanitiser in our laboratories, we can help protect Rio Tinto workers and reduce the spread of COVID-19, while at the same time easing the strain on supply for the local community," she said.

The Rio Tinto home grown hand sanitiser effort was kicked off by researchers at the Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium Technology Centre in Quebec, Canada.

The RTIT Technology Centre's normally works on improving titanium dioxide processing and developing specialised metals and powders for a broad range of uses.

However, in response to a local shortage chemists at the centre developed a formula based on World Health Organisation specifications to produce a hand sanitiser.

So far they have produced about 300 litres of gel, which is being used at the Sorel-Tracy operation in Canada.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production