Kimberley Cotton Company says gin will be ready for 2025 picking season

The East Kimberley cotton gin will be ready in time for the 2025 picking season, with exports of the Ord crop to begin soon after, the company behind the project has announced. The Kimberley Cotton Company says it has reached a funding milestone for the project and will begin placing orders for key ginning equipment and start civil works on site at Mulligans Lagoon Road, 17km north of Kununurra, KCC says it reached the funding milestone by raising capital from shareholders along with obtaining $34m in funds from the Federal Government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. “The gin has been designed to allow for further expansion with an initial processing capacity of up to 100,000 bales per year,” the KCC statement reads. “The project is forecast to deliver at least $250m of direct public benefit to the region and facilitate a longstanding cotton industry in the Ord Valley, creating approximately 30 jobs during construction and around 43 ongoing local jobs when operational, as well as many indirect business and employment opportunities.” The gin will be powered from hydro-electricity sourced from Lake Argyle. “This substantially reduces the carbon footprint of the ginning process when compared to the majority of Australian gins powered by electricity generated from gas, coal or diesel.” KCC has been granted approval by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to clear 65 hectares of native vegetation at 510 Mulligans Lagoon Road for the gin. The company is allowed to begin works on November 20. KCC chairperson Gabi Bloecker welcomed the funding milestone. “I would like to thank the shareholders and NAIF for their support which has been instrumental in KCC achieving this milestone, as well as the ongoing support from Department of Primary Industries & Research Development,” she said. “A local cotton gin brings diversity to the region and will have generational economic benefits for the region.”