General News
25 June, 2025
Plans to make Port of Karuma a major NQ harbour
A business case report and a cost-benefit analysis are currently being prepared.
Gulf Savannah Development is finalising a proposal to transform the under-utilised Port of Karumba into a viable second access freight harbour for North Queensland.
CEO Neil O’Brien said a business case report and a cost-benefit analysis were expected to be completed in the coming weeks. It studied how the facility could be expanded to assist with the broader development of the North West Minerals Province.
It follows hundreds of consultations with stakeholders across the resource, transport and government sectors.
For more than 40 years, the Port of Karumba has been identified as an under-utilised regional asset and an alternative route to transport mining product to international markets.
The Karumba facility has also been viewed as an option to bypass the worn-out highways and expensive rail networks to barge consumer goods and fuel directly into the North West to help reduce freight expenses, and thus cost-of-living pressures, on local households and businesses.
The Port of Townsville faces ongoing challenges with freight handling due to infrastructure limitations and a repeatedly identified need for expansion.
Meanwhile the Port of Karumba, which is managed by Ports North, is currently only processing about 250,000 tonnes of mining product, mostly zinc concentrate from reprocessed tailings, which travels through a 300km pipeline operated by the Sibanye-Stillwater retreatment operation from its Century Mine at Lawn Hill.
At its peak production more than a decade ago, the Port of Karumba saw more than one million tonnes of product flow through its docks.
The port has struggled in recent years, at one point coming to a complete closure between 2016 and 2019 before the zinc concentrate trade recommenced.
There are emerging signs that the Port of Karumba is viewed as a new alternative pathway for junior miners, with North West Phosphate announcing ore from its Paradise South mine would soon be transported to Century Mine for processing before phosphate rock concentrate is shipped to trade partners out of Karumba.
Mr O’Brien said it was hoped that a thorough analysis of the port’s potential, which has been commissioned by the state government, could renew interest in expanding the development of the facility.
“Our vision for the Port of Kaumba is to understand what would be required to make it the second major port in North Queensland,” he said.
“We know some past reports dating back to the 1980s have said there was enough product in the North West to see the Port of Karumba export between three and 13 million tonnes of product annually.
“The Port of Karumba is the only port located in the North West Minerals Province.
“But, in order to fully capitalise on the potential, we need to be looking at how we can work with the junior miners to improve their supply chain and logistics options.
“So, our report has studied what will be the needs to support the expansion of the resource sector, especially in commodities such as phosphate, as well as what are the hindrances to establishing cropping in the North West and supporting agriculture, and what are the impacts on the tourism sector.
“We want to look at a staged approach to sustainably develop the port’s expansion and its surrounding infrastructure.”
Mr O’Brien said any expansion of the Port of Karumba would require dredging funding.
He said the report would identify specific roadways and crossings in the Gulf that would be required to be upgraded to overcome access issues to the Port of Karumba, especially during the wet season.
