Wesfarmers’ AGR set to expand Kwinana sodium cyanide facility again as gold mining activity surges

A Wesfarmers-controlled producer of sodium cyanide is keen for another output boost at its Kwinana manufacturing plant amid booming demand from gold miners for the deadly chemical compound.

Australian Gold Reagents, which is owned 75 per cent by Wesfarmers and the remainder by Coogee Chemicals, has lodged an application with the WA Government to expand its liquid and solid sodium cyanide production capacity from 170,000 tonnes per annum to 210,000tpa.

Sodium cyanide is commonly used to leach gold from mined ore by dissolving the crushed rock to release specks of the precious metal contained within.

Manufacturing sodium cyanide is a complicated and highly-regulated process because ingesting just one-eighth of a teaspoon worth of the chemical compound can be fatal. AGR’s Kwinana complex is the only mass production site of sodium cyanide in WA.

Wesfarmers in February signed off on a plan to boost the facility’s production capacity from 91,000tpa to 130,000tpa. That expansion was underpinned by construction of a new incinerator, which was partially funded by the federal taxpayer to the tune of $7.5 million.

A spokeswoman from Wesfarmers’ chemicals division said the latest proposed Kwinana expansion would ensure AGR can “continue to meet increasing domestic and international demand” for sodium cyanide from the gold mining industry.

Gold miners in WA and abroad are aggressively ramping up their operational activity as bullion’s price continuously climbs to new heights.

“The expansion in production capacity will be realised by modification, replacement, and duplication of existing process equipment,” according to Wesfarmers’ application to the State Government. This includes installing a new sodium cyanide storage tank.