Rio Tinto Alcan became the latest company to plan a resumption of a project in northern B.C. shelved because of the global recession.
The company said today it will spend $300 million for further construction in preparation for its $2.5-billion modernization of the Kitimat aluminum smelter.
The Kitimat modernization project will increase the smelter's current production by nearly 50 per cent to about 420,000 tonnes per year.
"The modernization of our Kitimat smelter is truly a transformational project, in line with
our strategic objective to grow via long-life, large-scale, low-cost assets. Once completed,
Kitimat will be one of the lowest-cost smelters in the world," Rio Tinto CEO Jacynthe Ct said in a release.
The modernization is meant to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs of aluminum production. The Kitimat smelter is powered by hydro-electricity generated from the Nechako Reservoir created by the Kenny Dam south of Vanderhoof in the 1950s.
Final approval of the Kitimat expansion is expected in 2011.
A year ago, Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. said it would resume a $500-million expansion of the Endako molybdenum mine west of Prince George.
The company's major upgrade is meant to expand the Endako mine's capacity from 28,000 to 50,000 tonnes of ore per day and reduce average production costs.
The Endako mine, 175 kilometres west of Prince George, employs about 260 people.
Western Coal also earlier announced it was restarting plans to expand production at its Willow Creek mine in the Tumbler Ridge area north of Prince George. The restart was part of a bigger plan to expand production to 10 million tonnes of coal a year by 2013.
