Rio Tinto To Expand its Aluminium Smelter in Quebec

Global mining group Rio Tinto will invest $1.1bn (CAD$1.4bn) into the expansion of its AP60 aluminium smelter at Complexe Jonquière in Quebec, Canada, the company announced on Monday.
The total investment includes another $113m of financial support from the Quebec government. The expansion will coincide with the gradual closure of potrooms at the Arvida smelter on the same site and will enable the company to increase its output of aluminium for use in transportation, construction, electrical, and consumer goods.
The investment of $1.1bn will increase capacity by approximately 160,000 metric tonnes of primary aluminium per year.
According to the company’s statement, the investment will add 96 new AP60 pots, increasing capacity by approximately 160,000 metric tonnes of primary aluminium per year. This would be enough of the metal to manufacture around 400,000 electric cars. In total, there will be 134 AP60 pots and a capacity of around 220,000 tonnes per annum.
The smelter combines lower-carbon technology with hydropower, used across Rio Tinto’s operations in Canada, to generate one-seventh of the greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of aluminium when compared with the industry average, and half the emissions when compared to the technology currently used at the Arvida smelter, the company estimates.
“This is the most significant investment in our aluminium business for more than a decade and it will further strengthen Rio Tinto’s high-quality and low-carbon offering to our customers as they also work to reduce their own carbon footprint”, Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said in the statement.