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Rio Tinto has ambitious growth agenda in B.C., CEO says

Monday, March 03, 2008

By Anna Grimes
Venue: Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel

Rio Tinto plans to modernize the aging Kitimat aluminum smelter, hopefully beginning this year, CEO Tom Albanese said. Photo:D.Roels

“Canada has been an important venue for Rio Tinto, and it’s increasingly important, especially with the Alcan transaction,” Tom Albanese, chief executive of Rio Tinto, told The Vancouver Board of Trade today.

“We have a shared interest in the economic well being in this country,” Albanese continued, adding that the company now has about 14,800 employees in Canada, including 10,300 in its Rio Tinto Alcan operations. Albanese was speaking at a PACIFIC ECONOMIC FORUM™ event sponsored by Lawson Lundell LLP and Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP.

Rio Tinto acquired Montreal-based Alcan, one of the globe’s leading suppliers of bauxite, alumina and aluminum, and a top-ranked provider of engineered and packaging materials, in July 2007. The $38 billion acquisition positions Rio Tinto Alcan as the world’s largest aluminum supplier.

“We’re delighted with the quality of the Alcan operations, its assets, and of course its people, its organization,” Albanese said. “They’ve exceeded our expectation and the integration with Rio Tinto is well underway.”

Rio Tinto has an ambitious growth agenda for its operations based out of Canada, including major projects in Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and, of course, right here at home.

At the top of their list is a planned $2 billion modernization of the aging Kitimat aluminum smelter, which will serve to increase its productive capacity by about 40 per cent, or 40,000 tonnes per year. By employing the latest smelting technology, Rio Tinto Alcan also hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions also by 40 per cent, or 500,000 tonnes.

Albanese said he is hoping the “green light” for the project could come this year.

“Once approved, the modernization of Rio Tinto Alcan’s Kitimat smelter would increase Rio Tinto’s annual global primary aluminum production capacity by more than three per cent,” Albanese said. “And this will make Kitimat not only one of Rio Tinto’s largest fully owned smelters, but also one of the three largest in North America.”

Albanese emphasized that Canada and B.C. figure strongly in Rio Tinto’s growth plans, far beyond the Kitimat project.

“We’ve made big commitments to British Columbia in acquiring Alcan, and I can tell you that we’re going to keep our promises” he said. “Canada clearly stands to benefit from our success in capitalizing on the worldwide mineral boom. Rio Tinto will continue to help stimulate prosperity and foster healthy communities in B.C. and Canada.”

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