Rio Tinto will install carbon free aluminium smelting cells at its Arvida smelter in Québec, Canada, using the first technology licence issued by the ELYSIS joint venture. This investment will support the ongoing development of the breakthrough ELYSISTM technology and allow Rio Tinto to build expertise in its installation and operation.
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 $179 million (CAN$235 million) and $106 million (CAN$140 million) respectively as equity partners, for a total investment of US$285 million (CAN$375 million).
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. This pilot operation will be a critical step in Rio Tinto’s learning journey towards full scale industrialization of the ELYSISTM technology.
