Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) has signed a long-term agreement with RevoCast Aluminum Billets to expand the supply of lower-carbon aluminium billet across North America.
Under the agreement, Rio Tinto will exclusively market billet produced at RevoCast’s recently commissioned casting facility in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
The product will combine primary aluminium produced using hydropower at Rio Tinto’s Kitimat operations with recycled aluminium processed by RevoCast.
Commissioned in August, the Langley facility has an annual production capacity of more than 80,000 tonnes of 6xxx-series aluminium billet. The material is intended for extrusion applications across the construction, transport, industrial products, and consumer goods sectors.
Billets are semi-finished aluminium products that can be heated and forced through shaped dies to produce components with consistent profiles.
Rio Tinto Aluminium Sales and Marketing VP Matt Schicke says the arrangement will supply manufacturers with material produced closer to their operations.
“This partnership strengthens our ability to help customers increase the recycled and low-carbon content of their products and build more resilient value chains,” Schicke says.
RevoCast says its plant uses remelting technology designed to reduce energy consumption and emissions. However, the companies have not disclosed the billet’s recycled content, carbon intensity, or a comparison with conventionally produced material.
Financial terms and the duration of the agreement have also not been disclosed.
Rio Tinto produces iron ore, aluminium, copper, and lithium across operations in several countries. Privately held RevoCast operates an aluminium recycling and casting facility in British Columbia.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Main image: Rio Tinto
