Operations

JOINT VENTURES

Australian Gold Reagents Pty Ltd
Sodium Cyanide Plant

The sodium cyanide plant, located at CSBP Limited’s chemical and fertiliser complex in Kwinana, is a joint venture between Coogee Chemicals (25% shareholding) and CSBP – a subsidiary of Wesfarmers (75% shareholding).

The plant is managed by Australian Gold Reagents Pty Ltd (AGR), and has won a number of engineering excellence awards for its innovative design, and emphasis on safety and efficiency. In addition it has won the 2004 AusIndustry Emerging Exporter of the Year Award.

Commissioned in 1988, the plant was the first of its kind in Australia. It was established to service the growing gold mining industry in Western Australia where sodium cyanide is used for the extraction of gold and other precious metals Since this time, the plant has been upgraded and is now capable of producing up to 60,000 tonnes of liquid sodium cyanide per annum, with future potential to expand to 70,000 tonnes per year.

Approximately half of the liquid sodium cyanide produced is used in the local market in Western Australia, whilst the remaining half is converted into solid sodium cyanide and sold in export markets including Africa, South America and Laos.

The raw materials used in the plant are ammonia from neighbouring Wesfarmers CSBP, natural gas from the North West Shelf, and caustic soda supplied from Coogee Chemicals.

The liquid sodium cyanide is transported in isotainers to the Goldfields where it is used as a reagent in gold extraction. Solid sodium cyanide is packaged into boxes and exported by container.

For further information, including the manufacturing process of sodium cyanide, please follow this link to the CSBP website. Choose 'Sodium Cyanide Plant' from the 'Plant Operations' drop-down menu.

Malaysian Joint Ventures

Pacific Iron Products (PIP)
Ferrous Sulphate

A joint venture between Coogee Chemicals and Huntsman Tioxide is producing ferrous sulphate under the name Pacific Iron Products Sdn Bhd (PIP) on the east coast of Malaysia. The plant was commissioned in 1997 and is still the largest producer of ferrous sulphate products in South East Asia.

In addition to selling ferrous sulphate heptahydrate and monohydrate in Australia and Malaysia, Pacific Iron Products markets to other South East Asian nations, North East Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

More recently, PIP has achieved certification under the International Food Standards for the supply of material into the European animal feed market which is now part of the new stringent requirements for both Europe and North America to combat the spread of animal diseases.

Pride Chem Industries (Malaysia)
Copper Oxide

Pride Chem (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd PCI(M) manufactures copper oxide in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia. The project is a 50:50 joint venture with Pride Chem Industries (Singapore).

The plant uses copper etchant by-product from the electronics industry to produce over 1,000 tonnes of copper oxide per annum which is mainly used for trace element fertiliser and copper sulphate manufacture in Western Australia.

The plant has steadily grown to be the largest collector and treatment facility for waste copper etchant in Malaysia today. In addition to the manufacturing operations, PCI(M) also manages its own transport operation and is currently on track to achieve accreditation to the stringent ISO14000 International Standard for Environmental Performance by the end of June 2006.