Rio Tinto: US$2B Kikimat Smelter Upgrade Submitted To Board

MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)-Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) said Wednesday it will submit a planned US$2 billion modernization of the Kitimat smelter for board approval after an energy purchase agreement was accepted by the British Colombia Utilities Commission.

The commission has accepted the 2007 Energy Purchase Agreement between Rio Tinto and BC Hydro, fulfilling the last of three conditions for proceeding with the modernization of the smelter.

"Final approval of the project will allow us to stay on target to deliver first metal by 2012 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half a million (metric) tons per year," Rio Tinto Alcan Primary Metal President Jacynthe Cote said in a statement.

Rio Tinto said the modernization of the Canadian smelter will increase the company’s annual global primary aluminum capacity by more than 3%.