Article

Rio Tinto Alcan to Upgrade Smelter, Increase Capacity by 40 Percent

Friday, August 01, 2008

Rio Tinto Alcan has awarded a contract to Bechtel, worth approximately $200 million, to conduct the complete engineering, procurement and construction management of the planned $2.5 billion Kitimat Modernization Project in British Columbia, Canada. The project would increase production capacity at the smelter by 40 percent to 400,000 mtons/year.

“This contract with Bechtel will ensure that a state-of-the-art plant with leading-edge technology is efficiently installed at Kitimat within a rigorous execution schedule, and is respectful of our high health, safety and environmental standards of performance,” says Jacynthe Côté, president and CEO of the Primary Metal sector of Rio Tinto Alcan.

The project would upgrade the existing 54-year old smelter and increase its aluminum production capacity by 125,000 mtons using hydroelectric power from Rio Tinto Alcan’s Kemano power station.

It would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40 percent per year, according to Rio Tinto Alcan officials. The modernized smelter is expected to produce material beginning in 2011.

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