Global mining and metals company Rio Tinto announced the start of commissioning of a $1.5 billion expansion project at its Complexe Arvida facility in Quebec, aimed at increasing the company’s production of low-carbon aluminum for use by customers across the transportation, construction, electrical applications and consumer goods sectors.
The expansion project utilizes Rio Tinto’s proprietary AP60 smelting technology, which, when powered by the hydroelectricity used across the company’s Canadian operations, generates approximately one-sixth of the greenhouse gas emissions of the global aluminum industry average and roughly half the emissions of the technology currently used at the adjacent Arvida smelter, according to the company.
Rio Tinto said that the AP60 expansion will support the transition toward carbon-free aluminum smelting technologies being developed by ELYSIS. ELYSIS technology, created by Rio Tinto in partnership with Alcoa, which enables the production of metal using carbon-free anodes to eliminate all process-related CO2 emissions in the smelting process.
Supported by the Government of Canada through the Strategic Innovation Fund and by the Government of Quebec through Investissement Québec, ELYSIS is constructing a demonstration plant in Quebec to advance its inert anode technology, which eliminates all direct greenhouse gas emissions from aluminum smelting and produces oxygen as a by-product.
The company said that AP60 technology produces approximately 1.6 tons of CO2e per ton of aluminum, compared with about 3.2 tons of CO2e per ton for the existing Arvida technology and 10.9 tons of CO2e per ton for the industry average. The facility is also expected to reduce fine particulate matter emissions by up to 90%.
According to the company, the start-up process, which began in March, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, increasing the plant’s production capacity by approximately 160,000 metric tons of primary aluminum annually for a total of 220,000 metric tons.
The company added that the new project, together with the planned aluminum recycling centre at Arvida, will more than offset the loss of production associated with the closure of the older Arvida potrooms, which is expected to be completed in June.
Rio Tinto Aluminium & Lithium Chief Executive Jérôme Pécresse said:
“This milestone brings into production the first major primary aluminium project in the West in more than a decade and demonstrates Rio Tinto’s ability to deliver world-class, low-carbon technologies. The newly expanded AP60 smelter reinforces our competitiveness and the offer for our customers, increases the efficiency of our Quebec operations and reduces our carbon emissions by approximately 290,000 tons per year compared to the old Arvida smelter.”
