Rio Tinto Completes Major Projects at Smelter in Canada

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--When Rio Tinto Alcan (Montreal, Quebec), a subsidiary of Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RIO) (London, England), announced this week it was preparing the first shipment of aluminum from the modernized Kitimat Smelter in British Columbia, it marked the end of major construction for a multi-year project that has cost the company in excess of $4.8 billion. Industrial Info began tracking the project in 1998, when it was in the early economic evaluation stage.

As part of its Global Metals & Minerals Project Database, Industrial Info is tracking more than $39 billion worth of Rio Tinto-affiliated projects worldwide.

The project incorporates new AP-40 Reduction Cell process technology. When fully ramped up, the smelter will increase production capacity by 48% to 420,000 tons per year, and reduce emissions by 50%.

Bechtel Corporation (San Francisco, California) provided engineering, procurement and construction services for the project. Western Industrial Contractors Limited (Kitimat, British Columbia) provided structural erection services and IDL Projects Incorporated (Prince George, British Columbia) provided infrastructure services.

As part of the modernization project, old pot lines were decommissioned, and a new pot line was constructed, as well as support and alumina delivery systems. The company also constructed a 700-megawatt electrical substation. The Kitimat smelter has been in operation for 60 years.

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