Photo by: Rio Tinto Alcan
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Giant global mining company Rio Tinto’s Canadian subsidiary, Rio Tinto Alcan, on Thursday inaugurated the $1.1-billion Arvida aluminium smelter, the AP60 Technology Centre, in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Quebec.
The new plant has an installed capacity of 60 000 t of aluminium and is the most technologically advanced aluminium smelter in the world, the company said in a press release.
"Rio Tinto Alcan is very proud to inaugurate the new Arvida aluminium smelter, AP60 Technology Centre. Today's milestone is the result of years of work by our research and development teams, particularly the teams that first conceived, developed and tested the AP60 technology at the Laboratoire de recherche des fabrications, in France," Rio Tinto Alcan CEO Jacynthe Côté said.
The new AP60 technology platform would allow Rio Tinto Alcan to develop a series of next-generation technologies, permitting improvements in productivity, and reductions in energy and environmental footprint in aluminium smelting.
The facility would produce 40% more aluminium per cell than the previous generation of AP technology. The 60 000 t plant employs nearly 135 people and reached full capacity in December.