US-based alumina and other industrial materials company Brimstone has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the largest American primary aluminium producer, Century Aluminium, to establish a domestic mine-to-metal supply chain for primary aluminium production.

Under the agreement, Brimstone will supply Century with significant volumes of alumina—the key ingredient in aluminium—from its forthcoming plant, underscoring a shared commitment to strengthening national security through a reliable, US-based aluminium supply chain using American feedstock.

The MoU adds momentum to Brimstone’s industrial-scale plant, anchoring the first aluminum supply chain to be fully sourced and produced in the US. The agreement also reinforces domestic supply chain resilience and reduces reliance on overseas supplies, which are currently vulnerable to political, military, or other disruptions.

“Foreign sources, including China, currently dominate global alumina production. Brimstone is bringing alumina production home and doing it at a globally competitive price,” says Brimstone CEO Cody Finke.

He explains that foreign sources, including China, currently dominate global alumina production. Brimstone is bringing alumina production home and doing it at a globally competitive price. “Brimstone is upending the massive global imbalance by producing alumina from rock quarried here in the US. Our partnership with Century is building a resilient domestic critical minerals supply chain—strengthening national security, reducing import dependence, and creating high-quality American jobs.”

Alumina production today requires bauxite, an ore concentrated in subtropical regions overseas. No economically mineable bauxite deposits exist in the US, forcing domestic aluminum smelters to rely solely on imports. As a result, primary aluminum is fully dependent on imported alumina or alumina feedstock, leaving American supply chains vulnerable.

Brimstone’s process completely avoids the need for bauxite, instead using a common, calcium-bearing silicate feedstock. This rock is abundant worldwide and widely available in the US, which clears a path for both alumina and aluminum to be produced domestically.

Century Aluminum senior strategy VP Matt Aboud comments the group continues to do its part to revitalize primary aluminum production in the US and that the MoU with Brimstone represents another step forward in its objective to grow domestic capacity of this critical metal, which is essential in everyday life, including key civilian and national defense industries.

“Securing additional domestic supply of alumina will encourage growth by making domestic production more efficient and cost-effective," he points out.

Century recently announced a joint project with Emirates Global Aluminum to build the largest primary aluminium production plant ever constructed in the US—and the first new domestic smelter in nearly 50 years—in Inola, Oklahoma.

At full operation, the Inola plant will double domestic capacity. That announcement came after Century announced last fall plans to restart idle capacity at its Mt. Holly plant, which involved a $50-million investment that created over 100 jobs. The first metal from Mt. Holly’s restart comes this spring, with the immediate impact of increasing domestic capacity by 10%.

Though it was once a leading producer, today the US imports most of its primary aluminum. China is responsible for about 60% of global production of both alumina and aluminum, while the US directly produces less than one-sixth of the aluminum it consumes.

Aluminum demand has risen dramatically in recent years, with experts predicting a 40% surge by 2030 driven by grid infrastructure, the AI data center boom, and defense needs, further exacerbating supply chain pressures.

Meanwhile, Brimstone is currently developing its commercial demonstration plant in Reno, Nevada, anticipated to be operational in 2028. The company’s first industrial-scale plant is anticipated to be completed by 2034 with an expected annual production capacity of about 350 000 metric t of smelter-grade alumina.