Rio Tinto Starts Commissioning US$1.5bn Low-Carbon Aluminium Expansion in Quebec

Rio Tinto has moved one of the Western world’s most significant new primary aluminium investments into commissioning, starting up the US$1.5 billion AP60 smelter expansion at Complexe Arvida in Quebec.

The project gives Rio Tinto additional low-carbon aluminium capacity in a market where North American customers are looking for reliable supply, lower embedded emissions and shorter industrial supply chains.

Commissioning began in March and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, when all 96 new AP60 pots are scheduled to be operating.

The expansion will lift AP60 production capacity at Arvida by about 160,000 tonnes per year, taking total primary aluminium output from the AP60 technology at the complex to approximately 220,000 tonnes per year. The additional capacity will more than offset the production lost through the planned closure of Arvida’s older potrooms, which is expected to be completed in June.

The significance of the project lies in both scale and technology. AP60 was developed by Rio Tinto’s research and development teams and is among the most efficient commercial-scale aluminium smelting technologies now operating. Combined with Quebec hydropower, the technology produces aluminium at about one-sixth of the greenhouse gas emissions per tonne compared with the industry average and about half the emissions of the older smelting technology used at the adjacent Arvida potrooms. The expansion is also expected to reduce fine particulate matter by up to 90%.

For Quebec, the project strengthens a mature aluminium region rather than creating an isolated industrial asset. Complexe Arvida sits in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, a region that carries a century of aluminium production history and remains central to Rio Tinto’s global aluminium business.

The construction phase created more than 1,500 jobs and generated more than US$1 billion in economic benefits for Quebec through contractor and supplier spending. The expanded smelter is expected to support about 100 permanent jobs locally and help secure work across the regional supply chain.

The start-up also sits inside a broader industrial strategy. Rio Tinto is advancing the AP60 expansion alongside a planned aluminium recycling centre at Arvida, while the wider Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean cluster is linked to ELYSIS, the carbon-free aluminium electrolysis technology partnership involving Rio Tinto and Alcoa. Canada has also announced C$100 million for ELYSIS technology deployment, underlining the strategic value governments are placing on domestic low-carbon metals capacity at a time of tariff pressure and trade uncertainty.

The project also reinforces the role of smelters and refineries as critical parts of the mining value chain, particularly as customers increasingly assess metals on security of supply and carbon intensity rather than tonnage alone.