Rio Tinto to acquire Mitsubishi’s 11.65% stake in Boyne aluminum smelter
11 June 2024
Rio Tinto has agreed to acquire Mitsubishi Corporation’s 11.65% interest in Boyne Smelters Ltd (BSL), which owns and operates the Boyne Island aluminum smelter in Gladstone, Australia.
On completion of this transaction, and the recent agreement to acquire Sumitomo Chemical Company’s 2.46% interest in BSL, Rio Tinto’s interest in BSL will increase to 73.5%.
The acquisition, which is for an undisclosed price, is subject to various conditions precedent, including approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board, and is expected to be finalized in the second half of 2024.
Rio Tinto looks forward to continuing to work with its remaining BSL joint venture partners and other stakeholders on securing a competitive low-carbon future for its Gladstone operations.
After completion of the two transactions, the BSL joint venture partners will be: Rio Tinto (73.5%), YKK Aluminium (9.50%), UACJ Australia (9.29%) and Southern Cross Aluminium (7.71%).
Boyne Smelters Limited (BSL) has been operating since 1982 and is Australia’s second-largest aluminum smelter. The operation is located at Boyne Island in Central Queensland and activities include manufacturing carbon anodes in the carbon plant, aluminum production (smelting) in reduction lines, and casting of molten metal into aluminum products ready to ship.
The smelter is adjacent to, and connected via a conveyor belt, to the Queensland Alumina Limited Refinery for the supply of alumina.
Current capacity is more than 500,000 tonnes of aluminum a year.
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