The casting station at the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter in Kitimat, BC.Felipe Fittipaldi/The Globe and Mail
Rio Tinto Plc RIO-N and Alcoa Corp. AA-N say they have reached a technological milestone in their partnership to develop a new, low-polluting method of aluminum production, as the two mining giants push to bring their industrial know-how to market.
The companies said Thursday that their Elysis joint venture achieved the first implementation of inert anode technology at a commercial scale. The work was done at Rio Tinto’s Alma, Que., smelter and yielded “high-amperage aluminum production with no direct carbon emissions from the smelting process,” according to a news release.
The technology uses inert anodes instead of carbon anodes during the electrolysis stage, emitting oxygen as a byproduct.
Rio Tinto and Quebec to invest $375-million to build pilot smelter using Elysis technology
Testing will continue with the aim of ramping up the scale of production over the coming years, the partners said.
Aluminum producers are facing increasing pressure to curb their greenhouse-gas emissions, even as global demand for the metal is on the rise.
Rio Tinto and Alcoa have together secured $650-million in funding for Elysis, about a third of that from the Canadian and Quebec governments. Apple Inc., which uses aluminum in its phones and laptops, has also invested $13-million and is providing technical support.