Cement Australia Holdings operates a cement manufacturing plant at Railton, 16 km south of Devonport on Tasmania's northwest coast. The raw material source is Ordovician limestone which is mined in quarries adjacent to the plant. Coal, mined in the Fingal Valley, is also used in the manufacturing process.
The history of cement manufacture at Railton goes back to 1923, when the Tasmanian Portland Cement Company began construction of a cement works, with production starting in 1926. In 1928 the Goliath Portland Cement Company was formed and the first of several plant enlargements was undertaken. This culminated in the eventual upgrading of the plant to a capacity of approximately one million tonnes of cement a year, with work on this upgrade commencing in 1992.
The limestone is mined in a quarry to the north of the plant and after crushing is conveyed on a conveyor system to the plant. The majority of the finished product is railed to Devonport and shipped to interstate markets.
Production in 2007/2008 totalled 1.26 million tonnes of cement, of which 1.1 million tonnes was shipped to NSW and Victoria. Raw materials consumed include limestone and clay from Railton, magnetite, silica, gypsum and coal from mines in the Fingal Valley.
Employment at Railton totalled about 150 people.
