Rio Tinto increases Boyne Smelters interest to 73.5%

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) will acquire Mitsubishi Corporation’s 11.65% interest in Boyne Smelters, which owns and operates the Boyne Island aluminium smelter in Gladstone, Queensland.

On the completion of the transaction, and the recent agreement to acquire Sumitomo Chemical Company’s 2.46% interest in Boyne Smelters, Rio’s interest in Boyne Smelters will increase to 73.5%.

The acquisition, which is for an undisclosed price, is subject to various conditions, including approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board, and it’s expected to be finalised in the second half of 2024.

Upon completion of the transaction, the Boyne Smelter joint partners will be Rio Tinto (73.5%), YKK Aluminium (9.5%), UACJ Australia (9.29%) and Southern Cross Aluminium (7.71%).

Operating since 1982, Boyne Smelters is Australia’s second largest aluminium smelter.

The operation is located at Boyne Island and activities include manufacturing carbon anodes in the carbon plant, aluminium production (smelting) in reduction lines and casting of molten metal into aluminium products ready to ship.

The smelter is adjacent to and connected via a conveyor belt to the Queensland Alumina refinery for the supply of alumina.

Since it opened, a series of multimillion dollar investments has seen the capacity increase from 210ktpa of aluminium to more than 500ktpa of aluminium.