Construction completed in 1999 on the $80 million Onslow Salt project, Western Australia’s latest solar salt operation and newest resource development project.

At an on-site ground breaking ceremony near Onslow, Resources Development Minister Colin Barnett congratulated Onslow Salt on the start-up of its 2.5 million tonne per annum salt field. Onslow Salt will spent $80 million during the construction phase of the project on solar salt ponds, processing facilities and new port facilities at Onslow. The project was formally approved by the State Government, eight months after being boosted by Netherlands-based chemical company Akzo Nobel, which gave it financial backing.

“This is a major project for the township of Onslow, the Pilbara in general and Western Australia’s reputation as a first class supplier of quality salt,” Mr Barnett said. Mr Barnett said that with the energy needs of the project and its proximity to natural gas, the construction of a gas-fired power station to provide a source of cheaper energy was under consideration.

Located a further 550 kilometers up the coast from Shark Bay, Onslow salt field has an area of approximately 8,600 hectares, or 1,900 times the size of the average baseball stadium, almost double the production capacity of Shark Bay, and port facilities enabling 50,000-ton class ships to berth.

When it emerged that Akzo Nobel was selling its interest in Onslow, Mitsui decided to take the opportunity to become a major shareholder in the salt field. In addition to the sound commercial basis for this decision, Mitsui saw the role that it could play in ensuring a stable supply of salt for major Japanese chlor-alkali manufacturers, as well as manufacturers in other Asian countries, amid increasing concern about salt supply in the Asian market.

The acquisition also enables Mitsui to demonstrate its comprehensive business engineering capabilities through involvement with major chlor-alkali manufacturers at various stages along the value chain, not only supplying the salt that serves as the basic raw material for their chlor-alkali business, but also subsequently purchasing their products and selling them throughout the world.

Mitsui will harness the expertise it has gained through its long involvement in Shark Bay Salt in operating this much larger solar marine salt field, and intends to continue to fulfill its mission of securing stable supply of the resource for the chlor-alkali industry in the future.