The site of the proposed Ashburton Salt project.
What the Ashburton Salt project will look like
More than 60 per cent of the proposed project site comprises large salt flats.
The Ashburton Salt project is proposed to span
130 square kilometres, 20km south-west of the Ashburton North Industrial Area, near Onslow in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
If developed, these salt flats would be converted to evaporation ponds by constructing low walls to keep the water contained.
Satellite image of Project location
Artist’s impression of Project once complete
Minimal construction required
Importantly, the construction of these walls is the only modification that will be made to these flats in developing the project, as retaining the flats’ existing floor is essential to solar salt production.
Once the walls have been built, the ponds will be filled with sea water before the naturally occurring solar evaporation process begins.
The project would also include a salt stockpile, crystalliser ponds and a jetty – comparable to the infrastructure already established at the nearby Onslow Salt Facility, which provides a good example of what the Ashburton Salt project would look like.
The undeveloped salt flats from the air
The undeveloped salt flats, up close
Existing salt ponds in Onslow
Existing jetty and infrastructure in Onslow
A natural process: sun, wind and sea water
Unlike mining, solar salt production takes nothing from the ground. Instead, it replicates the many salt lakes that exist across the region – using salt water from the ocean, and letting the sun and wind do the rest.
There are no industrial additives or chemicals used. It is a low energy process that produces very little emissions, light or noise.
Community support and economic benefits
The Onslow community and the traditional custodians of the land on which the Ashburton Salt project is located, the Thalanyji People, support the project.
If developed, the people of Onslow will benefit from the 130 permanent jobs and significant flow-on economic impact this important project would bring.
The Local Government backs the project, which will be good for onlsow.”
Kerry White, (former) Shire President
The Thalanyji People
The Thalanyji are land and sea people who have flourished in their homelands for thousands of years and have a deep and continuing connection to the area spanning the range country and the plains of the Ashburton River, which flows across the claypans through mangrove swamps and creeks into the ocean.
“We express our support for the Ashburton Salt project, which is located on Thalanyji country.
We are supportive of K+S Salt Australia’s approach to environmental protection and management.
….thus enabling the Thalanyji People to derive economic, employment, tourism and other benefits from the exercise of their native title rights and interests.”
K+S Salt Australia and The Thalanyji People, through Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation, signed a Native Title agreement for the Ashburton Salt project in March 2023.
An Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) between the Thalanyji People, K+S Salt Australia and the Western Australian Government was also signed in May 2023.
The agreements will enable the Thalanyji People to benefit from the project through economic, employment and training provisions.
Onslow Community
The people of Onslow are already familiar with the existing salt facility in town, understand the potential outcomes of the Ashburton Salt project, and stand behind it.
From the outset, the Onslow community has openly shared its views on the environmental and social values of the area, particularly in relation to fishing.
The strong and positive relationship between K + S Salt Australia and the local community has been built upon ongoing, open and transparent engagement.
Economic benefits
Once operational, Ashburton Salt will employ around 130 local people – creating long-term employment and economic benefits for their families and the wider community.
K+S Salt Australia does not plan to use a FIFO workforce to operate the Ashburton Salt project. Our goal is to employ locally as well as encourage new people and their families to live and work in Onslow, contributing to the ongoing development of a diverse, vibrant and strong community.
We understand that in the long term, this will require the delivery of new housing to support local population growth given the current pressures on accommodation in the area.
We will engage with the Shire of Ashburton, relevant authorities and developers to investigate and deliver housing when the time comes.
The economic benefits the Ashburton Salt project will deliver to Onslow, and more broadly to Western Australia, are significant.