Pivot - Phosphate Co-operative Co. of Australia

1988 - WMC acquires Hi Fert, Ltd.
1996 - Queensland Phosphate, Ltd. becomes WMC Fertilizers, Ltd.
2003 - Incitec Pivot Limited was created on the merger between Pivot and Incitec Fertilizers
2005 - BHP Billiton acquired WMC Resources Limited
        - WMC's fertilizer business was sold to a joint venture between Elders and AWB in late 2005
2006 - Southern Cross Fertilisers Pty Limited

Capital cost of plant: A$130 to A$150 million⁽¹⁾

One of the world's largest converters: 16 m diameter

NOx Treatment System: De-NOx
Fluoride Treatment System: Sodium Silicate Addition

November 26, 2012 - Incitec Pivot yesterday took delivery of a vital part to fix its waste hear boiler, after the boiler’s failure two weeks ago forced the company’s acid plant to close.  Delivering the equipment from Europe was one of the largest planes to ever land in Mount Isa, a 50 metre Russian Ilyushin I1-76 cargo plane, the North West Star reported.  Pilot Andrew Erstropov said despite heavy cargo and the size of the plane, Mount Isa airport handled the situation well.  “The condition of the runway was good and the weather was clear, there were no problems,” he said.  Having the ability to handle such a large aircraft allows Rockhampton Airport to cater to all different industry requirements, councillor and chair of council’s business enterprise committee Neil Fisher said.  “This is an aircraft that is capable of carrying five Apache helicopters,” he said.  “If we can handle the Antonov, we can easily use our resources to cater to the needs of the mining community, enabling Central Queensland mines to have their equipment shipped in by air rather than by road.” Fisher said.  The acid plant is still expected to be shut for one month an Incitec Pivot spokesperson said.  This will lead to decreased ammonium nitrate production at Phosphate Hill and losses estimated at $25 million before tax, Manufacturers’ Monthly reported earlier this month.  Australian Mining found that the extended closure of Incitec Pivot's acid plant in Queensland had resulted in Xstrata's copper smelter's increasing sulphur dioxide emission levels.  The acid plant near Mount Isa previously took around 80 per cent of the Mount Isa Mines' smelter's byproducts and emissions to create sulphuric acid for fertilisers.  While it is shut down emissions are all released via the stack.  "During the shut down maintenance period of Incitec Pivot Limited, 100 per cent of our sulphur dioxide is sent through to our copper stack," an Xstrata spokesperson explained.  She went on to stress that the increased emissions would not reach harmful levels. 

November 12, 2012 - Fertiliser maker Incitec Pivot Ltd says the shutdown of a Mt Isa sulphuric acid plant for up to a month could cost it $25 million.  The waste heat boiler at the Queensland plant failed, and the plant may need to be offline for up to a month in order for repairs to be made, Incitec Pivot said.  The closure of the Mt Isa plant will cause reduced operations at the ammonium phosphate plant at Phosphate Hill, south of Mt Isa.  That could reduce the plant's production of ammonium phosphates in the year to September 30, 2013 to 900,000 tonnes, the company said.  If the Mt Isa plant is offline for a month, the financial implication of higher costs of sulphuric acid and repairs is estimated to be in the region of $25 million, before tax, Incitec Pivot said.

March 28, 2012 - Sulphur dioxide fumes from Xstrata Copper's smelter in Mount Isa in north-west Queensland will be captured and made into fertiliser again, after repairs to equipment at a facility.  Incitec Pivot's sulfuric acid plant in the city was shut down last month while repairs were carried out.  The company uses emissions from the Xstrata smelter to produce sulfuric acid, which is then used to make fertiliser at Phosphate Hill.  Incitec Pivot operations manager Brian Corrie says sulphur dioxide levels over Mount Isa were within safe levels during the shutdown period.  "In Mount Isa, Xstrata have a very high, very sophisticated SO2 monitoring system and there are certain levels ... Xstrata's not allowed to exceed certain ground level concentrations and during the shutdown, there were no exceedences [sic]," he said.  Mr Corrie says the company has warned shareholders the shutdown will affect profits.  He says Incitec is now redoubling its efforts to make up for the lost weeks of production.  "Quite a drop in our output - but we'll try and catch up the rest of the year," he said.  "What we'll do now is we will just make sure that we keep the plant running reliably and we will maximise what we produce."

March 6, 2012 - The extended shut down of the Incitec Pivot acid plant has resulted in increased sulphur dioxide emissions from Xstrata's copper smelter.  Since 2000, the acid plant has taken the bulk of the copper smelter's emissions to create sulphuric acid used to make fertiliser, about 80 per cent.  An Xstrata Mount Isa Mines spokeswoman said all emissions were currently being released through the stack.  "During the shut down maintenance period of Incitec Pivot Limited, 100 per cent of our sulphur dioxide is sent through to our copper stack," she said.  She said the increased emissions would not reach harmful levels.  "During the shutdown of the acid plant, Xstrata Mount Isa Mines will continue to operate its smelters in accordance with procedures undertaken by its air quality control system, which is the most intensive air quality monitoring system of any city in Australia," she said.  "The air quality control system in Mount Isa directs the smelters to shut down if unfavourable wind conditions blow smelter emissions eastwards towards town and they impact the local community."  Incitec Pivot had to extend the routine maintanence shut down of its acid plant when workers discovered extra work needed to be done.  The acid plant is expected to be back online by mid to late March.  Incitec Pivot has estimated the shutdown will reduce its annual profit by $21 million.

December 21, 2011 - Mount Isans should be breathing cleaner air in the New Year now that Xstrata Mount Isa Mines has been made to operate under tougher air and water emission regulations yesterday.  Xstrata MIM will now have to comply with stringent environmental regulations, and is now bound by the Environmental Protection Act.  Since 1985 the mining operations had been exempt from the Act and has operated under its own special legislation.  Under the regulations set down by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM), Xstrata will be required to significantly cut sulphur dioxide emissions and comply with more stringent standards for air and water quality.  DERM environmental services regional manager Rob Lawrence said the transition was part of a wider plan to ensure all Queensland mines operated under the same legislation.  "Mines that previously operated under special agreement acts are now required to have approvals under the Environmental Protection Act. This means the same rules apply across every operation in the state."  Mr Lawrence said DERM was working with Xstrata to ensure the company met its environmental obligations.  "We recognise that considerable work and investment is required to bring the Mount Isa operation up to contemporary standards," he said.  "This will take time. However the Department of Environment and Resource Management is working closely with MIM to ensure the transition to the new standards occurs in a timely fashion while also ensuring the risk to the environment is minimised."  Xstrata Copper North Queensland chief operating officer Steve de Kruijff said Xstrata had spent $275 million on environmental initiatives since the Swiss mining company acquired the operation in 2003.  "We are planning to invest a further $360 million over the next five years to continue improving our performance," he said.  Xstrata plans to close its Mount Isa copper smelter, which emits the sulphur dioxide, by the end of 2016.

May 25, 2011 - Xstrata is due to submit a new environmental management plan to the Qld Government by Friday on its Mount Isa operations.  Mining giant Xstrata says its decision to phase out copper smelting and refining in Mt Isa and Townsville in north Queensland has not been motivated by the Federal Government's carbon tax.  The company will shut down both operations by the end of 2016.   Xstrata has told its 420 staff in the Mount Isa and Townsville facilities it will offer retraining and relocation to retain them.   Xstrata chief operating officer Steve de Kruijff says its Australian operations cannot compete with China, but the carbon tax is not to blame.  "What we've found is that the emerging Chinese metal processing industry is producing copper at a far more marginal rate then we can do that," Mr de Kruijff said. "We don't believe that our smelting and refining processes can be sustained into the future.   "We don't see a turnaround in the profitability of smelters from a global perspective and/or refining."  Xstrata says it will focus on the expansion of existing mines and the development of new mines at Mount Isa and the broader region.  Xstrata says the Ernest Henry Mine at Cloncurry will not be affected by the decision.  It is unclear what the announcement will mean in terms of job losses but the company says it needs to evolve the business to secure its long-term future.  The announcement comes at the same time Xstrata is preparing an environmental management plan to submit to the State Government on its Mount Isa mine operations.  Xstrata is due to submit a new environmental management plan to the State Government by Friday on its Mount Isa operations.   Queensland Resources Council chief executive officer Michael Roche says Xstrata's decision highlights the risk of introducing a carbon tax.  "This just shows you just how vulnerable [the industry] can be to additional cost impost, which is why of course we're trying to fend off the worst of the carbon tax at the moment," he said.  Mr Roche says the move shows how tough the market is becoming for Australian companies.   "Without our competitors also having some sort of carbon pricing mechanism, it's just going to get harder and harder for us to compete," he said.  Mount Isa Mayor John Molony says he thinks uncertainty over the Federal Government's carbon tax may have influenced Xstrata's decision.  "It's a dangerous time of the year for big mining companies like Xstrata when you get the Federal Government announcing a carbon tax without details," he said.  "The mining company will automatically budget for the worst-case scenario.  "It might please [Greens Senator] Bob Brown but it doesn't please the mining operators."  The Townsville Port handles around 600,000 tonnes of copper product a year.  The port exported more than 500,000 tonnes of copper last financial year and imported 100,000 tonnes from South America to be refined in Townsville.  Townsville Port chief executive Barry Holden says it is too early to know if Xstrata's decision will have a major impact on the port because there is scope to export more concentrate from the Ernest Henry mine.  "At this particular point in time we intend to wait and just see what the advices are from Xstrata and some more detail in terms of any changes that will occur in their tonnages through the port," he said.  "As always we will work with them to achieve the best outcome for them."

February 9, 2011 - Queensland’s wild weather will wipe $36 million from chemicals company Incitec Pivot's earnings, the group says.  Cyclone Yasi, which ripped through far north Queensland last week, halted production at its Phosphate Hill fertiliser plant and the Mount Isa sulphuric acid factory, the company told the stock exchange.  While Phosphate Hill is well inland, about 160 kilometres south of Mount Isa, most of its workers live on the coast and the company flew many of them home before the cyclone hit so they could prepare their homes and families for the crisis.  ''The Phosphate Hill and Mount Isa plants have returned to normal operation,'' the company said.  Operations in cyclone-ravaged Townsville were also disrupted, with ''minor damage'' to port facilities and the company's distribution centre, Incitec Pivot said.  The $36 million figure includes the effect of the floods that swamped much of Queensland and also hit New South Wales and Victoria in December and January.

October 13, 2010 - A mechanical problem at Incitec Pivot's Mount Isa acid plant has resulted in more visible emissions from Xstrata's copper smelter in recent days.  The acid plant extracts metalliferous gases from the copper smelter, including sulphur dioxide, however only two thirds of the normal level of extracted gases were being removed due to a breakdown in one of the plant's two blowers, an Incitec Pivot spokesperson said.  The acid plants produces sulphuric acid which is transported to Phosphate Hill, south of Mount Isa, to produce fertiliser.  The spokesperson said the breakdown was not having any impact on fertiliser production because the company could supplement acid from other sources.   The spokesperson said Xstrata were notified of the equipment failure when the blower first stopped working.  Xstrata's 2009 sustainability report said sulphur dioxide emissions went up in the reporting year due to downtime at the acid plant.   The repairs to the damaged blower are expected to be complete by mid next week.

March 5, 2010 - INCITEC Pivot's sulphuric acid plant has a new operations manager.  Brian Corrie has moved to Mount Isa from Sydney to take on the new role.  Mr Corrie said he was excited about his new position.  "It was a good opportunity from a job point of view. I have the knowledge and experience to do the job well," he said.  "The new job is very exciting. It's a challenge and an opportunity to grow in a big company."  But Mount Isa is more than just a rung on the ladder for Mr Corrie, who said he had no intention of leaving anytime soon.  "I'm settling into Mount Isa and I'm going to be here for the long term," he said.  Mr Corrie has a background in metallurgy and spent 24 years in the platinum industry in South Africa.  He also worked with Cement Australia in Gladstone, which he said helped him to prepare for Mount Isa.  The plant Mr Corrie is in charge of employs about 50 people and uses metgas from the neighbouring Xstrata copper smelter as the main feedstock to produce sulphuric acid.  The acid is transported by rail to Incitec's plant at Phosphate Hill, where it is used to manufacture fertiliser for Australia and export markets.  www.northweststar.com.au

February 26, 2010 - The shutdown of copper operations at Xstrata Mount Isa Mines and Incitec Pivot Limited's Phosphate Hill fertiliser and Mount Isa sulphuric acid plants for maintenance will inject millions of dollars into the community.  Final preparations are being made for the shutdowns which start next Tuesday at the three operations. It should be completed by March 31.  For Incitec Pivot the shutdown will cost $56 million in goods and services and will involve more than 900 fly-in contractors from more than 75 companies working across both sites.    About 250 of the contractors will work on projects at the acid plant and live in Mount Isa for between two and three weeks. They will be housed at four caravan parks.  Another 625 extra personnel will be engaged at Phosphate Hill during the course of the shutdown and will live on site.  For Xstrata the shutdown is the final stage of a $34million dollar project, this stage will cost about $28million.  The company said the copper smelter had engaged several local and outside contractors who were specialists in maintenance shutdowns. Collectively they would provide about 330 contractors to work on the copper smelter re-brick.  The re-brick will involve replacing the refractory (brick) linings of the vessels which convert concentrate to anode through a series of smelting processes.  The copper smelter re-brick will use about 1000 tonnes of special thermal bricks which are sourced from Europe. They are not made in Australia.  340 tonnes of bricks will be used in the Rotary Holding Furnace, 240 tonnes of bricks in Anode Furnace 2 and about 420 tonnes of bricks in the Copper ISASMELT Furnace.  At Xstrata, the shut down will affect mainly the copper smelter maintenance and operational employees. Some engineering personnel will be involved in the Xstrata project. The Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL) shutdown is planned as is the Xstrata shutdown and will have no impact "on upstream or downstream parts" of Xstrata's operations.