Temco

The manganese alloy facility, TEMCO (Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company), is located at Bell Bay, 50 kilometres north of Launceston in northern Tasmania. It is the only ferro-alloy producer in Australia and consists of a Sinter Plant and four electric arc furnaces.

TEMCO is Owned by Northern Territory Manganese Miner GEMCO

TEMCO, is wholly owned by GEMCO, a manganese mining company operating on Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory. GEMCO is in turn owned by South32 (60 percent) and Anglo American (40 percent).

TEMCO Smelter Uses Tasmanian Hydro-Electric Power

The medium sized TEMCO plant produces high carbon ferromanganese, silicomanganese and sinter that is derived from compacting and forming a solid mass of manganese using heat and pressure to the point of liquefying it before melting occurs. The manganese ore is shipped to Tasmania from the Northern Territory GEMCO mine. The TEMCO plant primarily uses Tasmanian hydroelectric power to produce 269 kilotonne of manganese alloy a year.

TEMCO Began Smelting GEMCO ore in 1966

The first furnace at the TEMCO plant was built in 1962 and the plant began processing manganese ore from the GEMCO mine in 1966. Three other furnaces were added later, Furnace No. 2 in 1976, Furnace No. 5 in 1976 and Furnace No. 3 in 1977.

Freeze Lining of TEMCO Furnaces Completed in 2009

TEMCO's first high conductivity freeze lining was installed at Furnace No 1 in 2001. This addition allowed the furnace to increase its operating loads. Freeze lining has also been installed on the other furnaces since that time, the last, Furnace No. 5, was completed in 2009.

TEMCO Owner South32 was Formed as a Result of a BHP Billiton Demerger in 2015

TEMCO's ultimate ownership belongs to South32, a company formed in 2015 as a result of a demerger within BHP Billiton. South32 comprises a large number of high quality cash generative resource companies in Australia, South America and South Africa. Its head office is located in Perth, Western Australia.

TEMCO in Partnership With Local Communities

The TEMCO plant is situated near the northern Tasmanian town of George Town where the company is focussed on developing education opportunities at the local schools. It does this by supporting scholarships and University bursaries throughout the wider Tamar Valley region. TEMCO has a policy of increasing economic and employment opportunities within all local communities. The company is also conscious of its environmental responsibilities and to this end takes part in various community consultations events to ensure the plant is seen to meet all its environmental expectations.