Rio Tinto and Alcoa are axing a bauxite mining joint venture deal for Western Australia's spectacular Mitchell Plateau, paving the way for the area to be included in a new national park.
The companies announced on Tuesday they had agreed to terminate a more than 40-year-old state agreement act to mine bauxite and build an alumina refinery in the north Kimberley region.
The WA government wants to establish Australia's largest national park in the area, which is internationally renowned for its rich flora and fauna, the Mitchell Falls and 40,000-year-old indigenous rock art.
More than 175,000 hectares of the Mitchell Plateau will become part of the Kimberley National Park, which will span two million hectares.
Rio Tinto said developing an alumina refinery on the Mitchell Plateau was always going to be economically challenging.
The national park plan has bipartisan support, with the state opposition outlining a similar proposal during its 2013 election campaign.
"Some places are too important to mine, and thankfully Rio Tinto agrees," Pew Charitable Trusts director Barry Traill said.
