#184 June 2018 Kitimat - Aluminum Smelter Why?

Ralph and I often ask “how” and “why” when we encounter a new culture, location, industry, etc.
In post #179 we asked "where does gold come from??

Now - why was Kitimat area chosen for a massive hydroelectric development and where does aluminum come from?

 Rio Tinto in Kitimat only offers public tours of the facility on Fridays. That didn’t work for us so we drove around the area as much as possible and then resorted to Google. We hope our readers find this information as interesting as we did. We always want to learn something new.

The potential of large hydroelectric development in British Columbia had been under study by the provincial government since the 1920s.

In 1947 the Government of BC approached Alcan, a Canadian company, with a proposal to lease land for hydroelectric installations and an aluminum smelter. Aluminum was heralded as the metal of the future. 

Pure forms of the metal must first be chemically refined into an alumina, an aluminum oxide compound.  It is then smelted into aluminum through an electrolytic reduction process. 

For every 4 pounds of bauxite, 2 pounds of alumina can be produced. 

From every 2 pounds of alumina, 1 pound of aluminum is produced. 

The process requires enormous amounts of electricity, which explains the connection between a new hydroelectric installation and an aluminum smelter.

After extensive exploration and studies the Nechako watershed was selected with Kitimat as the site of an aluminum smelter. Kitimat is situated at the head of Douglas Channel. It is a deep water, ice free, inland port with convenient access to Asian markets and the western US.

The yellow highlighted line shows the deep water route from Kitimat to the ocean.

A tremendous volume of water, locked in a series of lakes on the eastern side of the coastal mountains could be directed to the coast to produce a supply of uninterrupted electrical power. 

The logistics were monumental. Every item for camp living and construction had to be transported in – by air, barge and overland. Workers had to endure isolation and hardship. The magnitude and complexity of the “nut and bolts” was staggering. Parts of it – the aluminum transmission tower – were invented for the project. All were major feats of engineering and construction.

It was determined that the best location for the powerhouse would be a cave inside Mount DuBose. The cavern is 85 feet wide, 135 feet high and 700 feet long.

The water would be directed from the Nechako Reservoir via a tunnel that drops 2,600 feet and is wide enough for four cars side by side to drive through. The 10 mile long tunnel was started from both ends and met within inches and a handshake.

The Nechako Reservoir started to fill in October 1952. With the completion of the Kenney Dam in 1954, a 145 mile long expanse of water covering almost 340 square miles was created.

A 50 mile transmission line relays electricity over rugged mountainous terrain to the smelter at Kitimat. 

Between 1951 and 1954, 3,500 construction workers built the power development. The plant officially opened August 3, 1954 with HRH Prince Phillip tapping the first ingot. 

A successful smelter would need a skilled and stable workforce. The town of Kitimat would be created and designed for the worker and his family. Alcan wanted a social and physical master plan to provide a healthy, green community where families would want to put down roots.

In 2007 Rio Tinto, a huge mining corporation from Australia, bought Alcan. Australia, China and Brazil are the dominant countries in bauxite mine production.

Per ton of aluminum produced, electrical consumption has been reduced by 50 percent in the last 50 years.

In 2014 Rio Tinto modernized the smelter and has plans for more expansion of the marine terminal.