Sino Iron Project – Cape Preston

Sino Iron Project – Cape Preston is a metal ore mining facility operated by CITIC Pacific Mining Management Pty Ltd in WA. Like all covered facilities, iron ore, gold and base metal mining uses significant diesel and electricity. Under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism, Sino Iron Project – Cape Preston must keep its annual emissions below a stepping-down baseline — or purchase carbon credits to cover any overage.

In 2023–24, Sino Iron Project – Cape Preston reported emissions of 1.11 Mt against a baseline obligation of 1.09 Mt — an overage of 20 kt. The facility covered the 20 kt overage by purchasing 19,710 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) — credits generated by carbon abatement projects elsewhere in Australia such as soil carbon farming, avoided land clearing, and landfill gas capture.

Purchasing credits is legal and intended by the Safeguard Mechanism's design — the policy deliberately allows facilities to choose between cutting on-site emissions or funding abatement elsewhere in the economy. Whether credit purchases represent genuine long-term decarbonisation depends on whether the facility's absolute emissions are trending down over time. The chart above shows the trajectory since reporting began. This question applies to all covered facilities under the Safeguard Mechanism, not Sino Iron Project – Cape Preston specifically.

Across the metal ore mining sector, 8 of 8 covered facilities reported emissions above their baseline in 2023–24. The table below compares Sino Iron Project – Cape Preston with other metal ore mining facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.