By Alton Tabereaux, Contributing Editor. The global energy transition, electrification of vehicles, and increased demand for computing power in the wake of artificial intelligence (AI) have led to increased demand for batteries, advanced semiconductors, secure communications, next-generation aerospace platforms, and other components. In turn, this has resulted in increased demand for rare earth elements (REEs), […]
Alcoa Corporation entered into a definitive agreement to acquire South32 Limited’s interests, including its bauxite mine, alumina refinery, and aluminum smelter operations in a cash and stock transaction of approximately $4.1 billion. Alcoa will also assume related rehabilitation provisions of approximately US$1.2B. According to Alcoa, the acquisition will add a high-quality, low-cost, and globally diversified […]
Alcoa Corporation plans to invest $65 million in the expansion of its production capabilities to include recycled content in the casting process at its Mosjøen smelter in Norway. This strategic decision will enable the company to expand the delivery to key markets, while incorporating post-consumer recycled aluminum into its products for the first time. “This […]
ELYSIS, a joint partnership between Alcoa and Rio Tinto, launched its 450 kA inert anode cell at the end of an existing potline at the Rio Tinto smelter in Alma, Quebec, Canada — the first implementation of inert anode technology at this commercial-size scale. According to the company, this is a defining moment in the transition […]
Alcoa Corporation, Ball Corporation, and Unilever PLC are collaborating to enable the first use of breakthrough ELYSIS® carbon-free smelting technology in the production of aluminum for consumer personal and home care packaging. “Through this collaboration with Ball and Unilever, we’re helping bring low-carbon aluminum into everyday products and demonstrating how innovation at the material level […]
Alcoa Corporation achieved two strategically important developments for its Massena Operations in New York. First, the company signed a new 10-year energy contract with the New York Power Authority (NYPA). In addition, the company announced a capital investment of approximately $60 million in the facility’s anode baking furnace, a key component of the aluminum smelting process. […]
By Rose Eaton, Light Metal Age Aluminum is everywhere — your soda cans, airplane wings, smartphones, power lines, and even the foil wrapping your leftovers. It’s lightweight, corrosion-resistant, endlessly recyclable, and quietly underpins the modern world. But what if you found out that this silvery metal was once more valuable than gold? Or that Napoleon […]
By Alton Tabereaux, Contributing Editor. The U.S. was once ranked as one of the top primary aluminum producing countries in the world. It grew significantly thanks to the war efforts during World War I in the 1910s and through to the 1940s. Since 1940, there have been 28 different aluminum smelters built in the U.S., […]
By Peter Pollak, The Aluminum Association (Retired). Nikola Tesla, a Serbian American inventor and futurist, is considered to be one of the greatest electrical engineers of all time (Figure 1). Best known for harnessing alternating current (AC) for electrical transmission, Tesla was a true visionary, envisioning wireless transmission and communication technologies (now made reality in the […]
