Rio Tinto will design, engineer, and build a demonstration plant equipped with ten pots operating at 100 kiloamperes (kA). The plant will be owned by a new joint venture in which Rio Tinto and the Government of Québec, through Investissement Québec, will invest $US179 million (C$235m) and US$106 million (C$140m) respectively as equity partners, for a total investment of US$285 million (C$375m).
This facility will use the same technology that has been successfully demonstrated at the ELYSIS Industrial Research and Development Center in Saguenay—Lac-St-Jean, Rio said, adding that this pilot operation will be a critical step in Rio full scale industrialization of the ELYSIS technology.
The plant will have the capacity to produce up to 2,500 tonnes of commercial quality aluminium per year without direct greenhouse gas emissions, with first production targeted by 2027. It will be located adjacent to the existing Arvida…
