Alcoa Corporation has been fined A$55 million (US$38 million) by the Australian environment ministry for illegally clearing native forest at its bauxite operations in Western Australia. The penalty was announced on February 18 2026 and requires the company to remediate the cleared site and pay the fine.
The illegal clearing involved approximately 2,100 hectares of Northern Jarrah Forest habitat between 2019 and 2025, part of a broader pattern of land clearing that has seen Alcoa remove roughly 28,000 hectares of jarrah forest since the 1960s. The company’s proposed 11,500‑hectare expansion at the Huntly and Willowdale mines attracted 59,000 public submissions, reflecting intense community opposition to further environmental impact.
The settlement is the largest environmental penalty of its kind in Australian mining history. It includes legally enforceable undertakings that bind Alcoa to ongoing performance verification, replanting of native forest, and cleanup of the former mine site. The fine also compounds a prior commitment to modernise its approvals framework and invest $36 million in environmental undertakings, underscoring the company’s heightened regulatory obligations.
Alcoa’s Q4 2025 revenue of US$3.4 billion and net income of US$226 million mean the fine represents about 1.6 % of quarterly revenue and 0.2 % of net income. While the amount is modest relative to the company’s scale, the remediation costs and the legal commitments add a new operating expense that could constrain future capital allocation, particularly for the expansion projects at Huntly and Willowdale.
The fine signals a tightening of environmental enforcement in Australia and sets a precedent that may prompt other mining operators to strengthen compliance. It also highlights the growing influence of public submissions on regulatory outcomes, as the 59,000 submissions against Alcoa’s expansion plans were a key factor in the enforcement action.
Alcoa has acknowledged the penalty and stated it will comply with all remediation and legal obligations. The company’s management remains focused on maintaining production at its existing mines while addressing the regulatory requirements, but the fine may delay or alter future expansion plans pending further approvals.
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