Rio Tinto Aluminium (previously known as Comalco) is now known as
Rio Tinto Alcan
Rio Tinto Alcan is a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, based in Montreal. It was created on 15 November 2007 as the result of the merger between Rio Tinto's Canadian subsidiary and Canadian company Alcan.
It is the global leader of aluminium mining and p ...
after Rio's takeover of
Alcan
Alcan was a Canadian mining company and aluminum manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company, renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and Alcan Aluminum in 1966. It took the name Alcan Incorporated in 2001. During t ...
. It was the world's eighth largest
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
company. It mines and manufactures
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...
,
alumina and primary aluminium.
Rio Tinto Aluminium is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Rio Tinto Group
Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian Multinational corporation, multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). The company was founded in 1873 when of a group of investors purchased a mine ...
and provides about 20% of
Australia's
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...
total production of bauxite, 8% of its alumina and 24% of its primary aluminium.
In 2002, Rio Tinto Aluminium earned
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
256 million for its shareholder Rio Tinto.
In 2006 Rio Tinto Aluminium was the largest receiver of budgetary assistance from the Australian government, Rio Tinto Aluminium had received over $287 million in assistance from Australian tax dollars.
RTA owns the
Weipa
Weipa () is a coastal mining town in the local government area of Weipa Town in Queensland. It is the largest town on the Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast. The Port of Weipa is mainly involv ...
Bauxite mine,
Yarwun
Yarwun is a rural coastal town and locality in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Yarwun had a population of 119 people.
Geography
The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south-west ( Byellee ...
Alumina Refinery, and
Bell Bay aluminium smelter
The Bell Bay aluminium smelter is located on the Tamar River at Bell Bay, Tasmania, Australia. The smelter has a production capacity of 178,000 tonnes of aluminium per year.
It is owned and operated by Pacific Aluminium, a wholly owned subsidiary ...
.
It also has interests (manages or joint-venture) in other aluminium related businesses:
*
Boyne Smelters Ltd (aluminium smelter)
*
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Limited
The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is an Aluminium smelting, aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto (corporation), Rio Tinto Group (79.36%) and the Sumitomo Group (20.64%), via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Limited.
T ...
(
Tiwai Point
Tiwai Point lies at the entrance to Bluff Harbour on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. A spit which extends from the western end of the Awarua Plain, it lies between Awarua Bay to the north and Foveaux Strait to the south. ...
aluminium smelter)
*
Queensland Alumina Limited
Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) is one of the largest alumina refineries by alumina production capacity in the world, located in Parsons Point, Gladstone, Queensland, Australia.
The refinery was planned in 1964 and has been operating since ...
(alumina refinery)
*
Gladstone Power Station
The Gladstone Power Station is a power station at Callemondah, Gladstone, Queensland, Australia. It is Queensland's largest power station, with six coal powered steam turbines generating a maximum of 1,680 MW of electricity. Power from ...
(power station)
*
Anglesey Aluminium
Anglesey Aluminium was a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Kaiser Aluminum. Its aluminium smelter, located on the outskirts of Holyhead, was one of the largest employers in North Wales, with 540 staff members, and began to produce aluminiu ...
(aluminium smelter – closed September 2009)
* Eurallumina SpA (alumina refinery)(Now sold)
Weipa railway fleet
In January 1972, Comalco (as the company was then known) ordered two Clyde GT26C locomotives (equivalent of the
EMD SD40
The EMD SD40 is an American 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and August 1972. 1,268 locomotives were built between 1966 and 1972. In 1972, an improved version with new electroni ...
), numbered 1.001 and 1.002. A switcher was also imported from Canada, numbered 1.003. In 1994, 1.002 was sold to Westrail, which operated a fleet of GT26Cs, where it was renumbered as part of that railway's
L class. The railway also acquired a prototype JT42C,
GML10
GML10 is a diesel-electric locomotive built by Clyde Engineering, Kelso for the Goldsworthy Mining Company in 1990. It is currently operated by Qube.
History
GML10's design is a hybrid of two earlier classes of Clyde-built locomotives, its ...
, from BHP, which was renumbered R1004 (1.001 was also renumbered R1001). In 2009, both R1001 and R1004 were sold to railways on the East Coast of Australia (1001 to
El Zorro enumbered L277and 1004 to
Qube Logistics
Qube Holdings is a diversified logistics and infrastructure company in Australia.
History
In July 2006, following the takeover of Patrick Corporation by Toll Holdings, Chris Corrigan and some executives departed and teamed with Kaplan Funds Man ...
everted to its original GML10 designation
Eversion (from the verb "evert") is the process of turning inside-out. Eversion may refer to:
* Eversion (kinesiology), the anatomical term of motion denoting the movement of the sole of the foot away from the median plane
* ''Eversion'' (video ...
, and were replaced by two production-model JT42Cs, R1005 and R1006. 1.003 was scrapped in 2000 after years of disuse.
Litigation
* Commonwealth Aluminium Corporation Ltd v Attorney-General of Queensland
976
Year 976 ( CMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after re ...
Qd R 231 (Comalco Case)
See also
*
List of alumina refineries
This is a list of alumina refineries in the world. The list is incomplete and missing some data.
Smelter-grade alumina refineries
Specialty alumina plants
See also
*List of aluminium smelters
This is a list of primary aluminium smelters ...
External links
Comalco web siteAP Technology web site
Aluminium companies of Australia
Mining companies of Australia
Mining companies of Guinea
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