136-550: Alcan was a Canadian mining company and aluminum manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company, renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and Alcan Aluminum in 1966. It took the name Alcan Incorporated in 2001. During that time, it grew to become one of the world's largest aluminum manufacturers. Alcan was purchased by Australian-British multinational Rio Tinto for $ 38 billion in 2007, becoming Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. in 2008. It
272-491: A precipitate of aluminium hydroxide , Al(OH) 3 , forms. This is useful for clarification of water, as the precipitate nucleates on suspended particles in the water, hence removing them. Increasing the pH even further leads to the hydroxide dissolving again as aluminate , [Al(H 2 O) 2 (OH) 4 ] , is formed. Aluminium hydroxide forms both salts and aluminates and dissolves in acid and alkali, as well as on fusion with acidic and basic oxides. This behavior of Al(OH) 3
408-525: A "less classical sound". This name persisted: although the -um spelling was occasionally used in Britain, the American scientific language used -ium from the start. Most scientists throughout the world used -ium in the 19th century; and it was entrenched in several other European languages, such as French , German , and Dutch . In 1828, an American lexicographer, Noah Webster , entered only
544-613: A British-Australian multinational company that is the world's second largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP ). It was founded in 1873 when a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto , in Huelva , Spain, from the Spanish government. It has grown through a long series of mergers and acquisitions. Although primarily focused on extraction of minerals, it also has significant operations in refining, particularly
680-499: A Swedish chemist, Jöns Jacob Berzelius , in which the name aluminium is given to the element that would be synthesized from alum. (Another article in the same journal issue also refers to the metal whose oxide is the basis of sapphire , i.e. the same metal, as to aluminium .) A January 1811 summary of one of Davy's lectures at the Royal Society mentioned the name aluminium as a possibility. The next year, Davy published
816-566: A bid of £ 3.68 million ( ESP 92.8 million). The bid also specified that Spain would permanently relinquish any right to claim royalties on the mine's production. Following purchase of the mine, the syndicate launched the Rio Tinto Company, registering it on 29 March 1873. At the end of the 1880s, control of the firm passed to the Rothschild family , who increased the scale of its mining operations. Following their purchase of
952-561: A chemistry textbook in which he used the spelling aluminum . Both spellings have coexisted since. Their usage is currently regional: aluminum dominates in the United States and Canada; aluminium is prevalent in the rest of the English-speaking world. In 1812, British scientist Thomas Young wrote an anonymous review of Davy's book, in which he proposed the name aluminium instead of aluminum , which he thought had
1088-580: A dominant player in the aluminum sector for many subsequent decades. In 1994, Alcan sold their building products unit (with a plant in Scarborough , Ontario) to Genstar Capital , and the location was later closed and demolished. Between 1998 and 2001, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean became the largest construction site in North America, as Alcan undertook a $ 3-billion construction project in Alma , with
1224-628: A key factor in recommending the transaction to its shareholders. In March 2010, it was announced that Chinalco would invest $ 1.3 billion for a 44.65% stake in Rio Tinto's iron ore project in Simandou , Guinea. Rio Tinto retained 50.35% ownership at Simandou. In November 2011, Rio joined with Chinalco to explore for copper resources in China's complex landscape, by setting up a new company, CRTX, 51% owned by Chinalco and 49% by Rio Tinto. Under
1360-543: A major producer of borax , bought in 1968, Kennecott Utah Copper and BP 's coal assets which were bought from BP in 1989, and a 70.7% interest in the New South Wales operations of Coal & Allied , also in 1989. In 1993, the company acquired Nerco and the United States coal mining businesses of Cordero Mining Company . In 2000, Rio Tinto acquired North Limited , an Australian company with iron ore and uranium mines, for $ 2.8 billion. The takeover
1496-561: A memorandum of understanding to develop Rio Tinto's iron ore project in the Simandou mine in Simandou , Guinea . On 29 July 2010, Rio Tinto and Chinalco signed a binding agreement to establish this joint venture covering the development and operation of the Simandou mine. Under the terms of the agreement, the joint venture maintains Rio Tinto's 95% interest in the Simandou project as follows: By providing US$ 1.35 billion on an earn-in basis through sole funding of ongoing development over
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#17327910981241632-406: A price later determined to be well below actual value. The purchasers of the mine were led by Hugh Matheson 's Matheson & Company , which ultimately formed a syndicate consisting of Deutsche Bank (56% ownership), Matheson (24%) and the civil engineering firm Clark, Punchard and Company (20%). At an auction held by the Spanish government to sell the mine on 14 February 1873, the group won with
1768-441: A probable cause for it being soft with a low melting point and low electrical resistivity . Aluminium metal has an appearance ranging from silvery white to dull gray depending on its surface roughness . Aluminium mirrors are the most reflective of all metal mirrors for near ultraviolet and far infrared light. It is also one of the most reflective for light in the visible spectrum, nearly on par with silver in this respect, and
1904-683: A process termed passivation . Because of its general resistance to corrosion, aluminium is one of the few metals that retains silvery reflectance in finely powdered form, making it an important component of silver-colored paints. Aluminium is not attacked by oxidizing acids because of its passivation. This allows aluminium to be used to store reagents such as nitric acid , concentrated sulfuric acid , and some organic acids. In hot concentrated hydrochloric acid , aluminium reacts with water with evolution of hydrogen, and in aqueous sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide at room temperature to form aluminates —protective passivation under these conditions
2040-525: A refractory material, and in ceramics , as well as being the starting material for the electrolytic production of aluminium. Sapphire and ruby are impure corundum contaminated with trace amounts of other metals. The two main oxide-hydroxides, AlO(OH), are boehmite and diaspore . There are three main trihydroxides: bayerite , gibbsite , and nordstrandite , which differ in their crystalline structure ( polymorphs ). Many other intermediate and related structures are also known. Most are produced from ores by
2176-651: A report commissioned by the Government of Canada. The governments of the UK, Canada, US, and Australia facilitated this growth with low-interest loans and tax deferrals. In 1945, the Aluminum Company of Canada was officially registered under the trade name Alcan. Sales fell substantially in the immediate aftermath of the war but rebounded with postwar expansion, as aluminum was increasingly in use in construction, by electrical utilities, and in manufacturing. In 1951,
2312-474: A stable noble gas configuration. Accordingly, the combined first three ionization energies of aluminium are far lower than the fourth ionization energy alone. Such an electron configuration is shared with the other well-characterized members of its group, boron , gallium , indium , and thallium ; it is also expected for nihonium . Aluminium can surrender its three outermost electrons in many chemical reactions (see below ). The electronegativity of aluminium
2448-569: A two-to-three-year period, Chalco, a subsidiary of Chinalco, would acquire a 47% interest in the joint venture. Once the full sum was paid, Rio Tinto would be left with a 50.35% interest in the project and Chalco would have 44.65%. The remaining 5% would be owned by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the financing arm of the World Bank . On 22 April 2011 Rio Tinto, its subsidiary Simfer S.A. (Simfer), and
2584-820: A variety of wet processes using acid and base. Heating the hydroxides leads to formation of corundum. These materials are of central importance to the production of aluminium and are themselves extremely useful. Some mixed oxide phases are also very useful, such as spinel (MgAl 2 O 4 ), Na-β-alumina (NaAl 11 O 17 ), and tricalcium aluminate (Ca 3 Al 2 O 6 , an important mineral phase in Portland cement ). The only stable chalcogenides under normal conditions are aluminium sulfide (Al 2 S 3 ), selenide (Al 2 Se 3 ), and telluride (Al 2 Te 3 ). All three are prepared by direct reaction of their elements at about 1,000 °C (1,800 °F) and quickly hydrolyze completely in water to yield aluminium hydroxide and
2720-575: A way of purifying bauxite to yield alumina, now known as the Bayer process , in 1889. Modern production of aluminium is based on the Bayer and Hall–Héroult processes. As large-scale production caused aluminium prices to drop, the metal became widely used in jewelry, eyeglass frames, optical instruments, tableware, and foil , and other everyday items in the 1890s and early 20th century. Aluminium's ability to form hard yet light alloys with other metals provided
2856-474: A yearly production capacity of 400,000 metric tonnes. In 2000, Alcan acquired Algroup (Alusuisse Group Ltd.), merging the companies to become Alcan, Inc. in 2001. Alcan became the second biggest primary aluminum production company. It then became the world's largest aluminum manufacturer in 2004 after acquiring the Pechiney Group, the fourth player in worldwide production and fabrication of aluminum and
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#17327910981242992-434: Is Al. Al was present in the early Solar System with abundance of 0.005% relative to Al but its half-life of 728,000 years is too short for any original nuclei to survive; Al is therefore extinct . Unlike for Al, hydrogen burning is the primary source of Al, with the nuclide emerging after a nucleus of Mg catches a free proton. However, the trace quantities of Al that do exist are the most common gamma ray emitter in
3128-407: Is paramagnetic and thus essentially unaffected by static magnetic fields. The high electrical conductivity, however, means that it is strongly affected by alternating magnetic fields through the induction of eddy currents . Aluminium combines characteristics of pre- and post-transition metals. Since it has few available electrons for metallic bonding, like its heavier group 13 congeners, it has
3264-429: Is small and highly charged ; as such, it has more polarizing power , and bonds formed by aluminium have a more covalent character. The strong affinity of aluminium for oxygen leads to the common occurrence of its oxides in nature. Aluminium is found on Earth primarily in rocks in the crust , where it is the third-most abundant element , after oxygen and silicon , rather than in the mantle , and virtually never as
3400-483: Is 1.61 (Pauling scale). A free aluminium atom has a radius of 143 pm . With the three outermost electrons removed, the radius shrinks to 39 pm for a 4-coordinated atom or 53.5 pm for a 6-coordinated atom. At standard temperature and pressure , aluminium atoms (when not affected by atoms of other elements) form a face-centered cubic crystal system bound by metallic bonding provided by atoms' outermost electrons; hence aluminium (at these conditions)
3536-399: Is a chemical element ; it has symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than that of other common metals , about one-third that of steel . It has a great affinity towards oxygen , forming a protective layer of oxide on the surface when exposed to air. Aluminium visually resembles silver , both in its color and in its great ability to reflect light. It
3672-548: Is a metal. This crystal system is shared by many other metals, such as lead and copper ; the size of a unit cell of aluminium is comparable to that of those other metals. The system, however, is not shared by the other members of its group: boron has ionization energies too high to allow metallization, thallium has a hexagonal close-packed structure, and gallium and indium have unusual structures that are not close-packed like those of aluminium and thallium. The few electrons that are available for metallic bonding in aluminium are
3808-522: Is almost never found in the elemental state; instead it is found in oxides or silicates. Feldspars , the most common group of minerals in the Earth's crust, are aluminosilicates. Aluminium also occurs in the minerals beryl , cryolite , garnet , spinel , and turquoise . Impurities in Al 2 O 3 , such as chromium and iron , yield the gemstones ruby and sapphire , respectively. Native aluminium metal
3944-405: Is also easily machined and cast . Aluminium is an excellent thermal and electrical conductor , having around 60% the conductivity of copper , both thermal and electrical, while having only 30% of copper's density. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity , with a superconducting critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin and a critical magnetic field of about 100 gauss (10 milliteslas ). It
4080-553: Is extremely rare and can only be found as a minor phase in low oxygen fugacity environments, such as the interiors of certain volcanoes. Native aluminium has been reported in cold seeps in the northeastern continental slope of the South China Sea . It is possible that these deposits resulted from bacterial reduction of tetrahydroxoaluminate Al(OH) 4 . Although aluminium is a common and widespread element, not all aluminium minerals are economically viable sources of
4216-536: Is greatly reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. Aluminium reacts with most nonmetals upon heating, forming compounds such as aluminium nitride (AlN), aluminium sulfide (Al 2 S 3 ), and the aluminium halides (AlX 3 ). It also forms a wide range of intermetallic compounds involving metals from every group on the periodic table. The vast majority of compounds, including all aluminium-containing minerals and all commercially significant aluminium compounds, feature aluminium in
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4352-492: Is in fact more basic than that of gallium. Aluminium also bears minor similarities to the metalloid boron in the same group: AlX 3 compounds are valence isoelectronic to BX 3 compounds (they have the same valence electronic structure), and both behave as Lewis acids and readily form adducts . Additionally, one of the main motifs of boron chemistry is regular icosahedral structures, and aluminium forms an important part of many icosahedral quasicrystal alloys, including
4488-476: Is low in comparison with many other metals. All other isotopes of aluminium are radioactive . The most stable of these is Al : while it was present along with stable Al in the interstellar medium from which the Solar System formed, having been produced by stellar nucleosynthesis as well, its half-life is only 717,000 years and therefore a detectable amount has not survived since the formation of
4624-476: Is mainly concentrated in Australia and Canada, and owns its mining operations through a complex web of wholly and partly owned subsidiaries. Rio Tinto is primarily organised into four operational businesses, divided by product type: These operating groups are supported by separate divisions providing exploration and function support. Rio Tinto is structured as a dual-listed company , with listings on both
4760-500: Is negligible. Aqua regia also dissolves aluminium. Aluminium is corroded by dissolved chlorides , such as common sodium chloride , which is why household plumbing is never made from aluminium. The oxide layer on aluminium is also destroyed by contact with mercury due to amalgamation or with salts of some electropositive metals. As such, the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion-resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper , and aluminium's corrosion resistance
4896-521: Is not as important. It is a polymer with the formula (AlH 3 ) n , in contrast to the corresponding boron hydride that is a dimer with the formula (BH 3 ) 2 . Aluminium's per-particle abundance in the Solar System is 3.15 ppm (parts per million). It is the twelfth most abundant of all elements and third most abundant among the elements that have odd atomic numbers, after hydrogen and nitrogen. The only stable isotope of aluminium, Al,
5032-416: Is quite soft and lacking in strength. In most applications various aluminium alloys are used instead because of their higher strength and hardness. The yield strength of pure aluminium is 7–11 MPa , while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium is ductile , with a percent elongation of 50-70%, and malleable allowing it to be easily drawn and extruded . It
5168-435: Is soft, nonmagnetic , and ductile . It has one stable isotope, Al, which is highly abundant, making aluminium the twelfth-most common element in the universe. The radioactivity of Al leads to it being used in radiometric dating . Chemically, aluminium is a post-transition metal in the boron group ; as is common for the group, aluminium forms compounds primarily in the +3 oxidation state . The aluminium cation Al
5304-422: Is surrounded by six fluorine atoms in a distorted octahedral arrangement, with each fluorine atom being shared between the corners of two octahedra. Such {AlF 6 } units also exist in complex fluorides such as cryolite , Na 3 AlF 6 . AlF 3 melts at 1,290 °C (2,354 °F) and is made by reaction of aluminium oxide with hydrogen fluoride gas at 700 °C (1,300 °F). With heavier halides,
5440-547: Is termed amphoterism and is characteristic of weakly basic cations that form insoluble hydroxides and whose hydrated species can also donate their protons. One effect of this is that aluminium salts with weak acids are hydrolyzed in water to the aquated hydroxide and the corresponding nonmetal hydride: for example, aluminium sulfide yields hydrogen sulfide . However, some salts like aluminium carbonate exist in aqueous solution but are unstable as such; and only incomplete hydrolysis takes place for salts with strong acids, such as
5576-416: Is that of the preceding noble gas , whereas those of its heavier congeners gallium , indium , thallium , and nihonium also include a filled d-subshell and in some cases a filled f-subshell. Hence, the inner electrons of aluminium shield the valence electrons almost completely, unlike those of aluminium's heavier congeners. As such, aluminium is the most electropositive metal in its group, and its hydroxide
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5712-433: Is the eighteenth most abundant nucleus in the universe. It is created almost entirely after fusion of carbon in massive stars that will later become Type II supernovas : this fusion creates Mg, which upon capturing free protons and neutrons, becomes aluminium. Some smaller quantities of Al are created in hydrogen burning shells of evolved stars, where Mg can capture free protons. Essentially all aluminium now in existence
5848-455: The -ium spelling as primary, and they list both where it is appropriate. The production of aluminium starts with the extraction of bauxite rock from the ground. The bauxite is processed and transformed using the Bayer process into alumina , which is then processed using the Hall–Héroult process , resulting in the final aluminium. Rio Tinto (corporation) Rio Tinto Group is
5984-490: The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission . The largest barrier to completing the investment may come from Rio Tinto's shareholders; support for the deal by shareholders was never overwhelming and has reportedly declined in 2009, as other financing options (such as a more traditional bond issuance) are beginning to appear more realistic as a viable alternative funding source. A shareholder vote on
6120-523: The Bougainville separatist crisis . There have also been corruption concerns: In July 2017 the UK's Serious Fraud Office announced an investigation of the company's business practices in Guinea . Since antiquity, a site along the Rio Tinto in Huelva , Spain, has been mined for copper, silver, gold and other minerals. Around 3000 BC, Iberians and Tartessians began mining the site, followed by
6256-827: The FTSE 100 Index of the London Stock Exchange, and the S&;P/ASX 200 index of the Australian Securities Exchange. LSE-listed shares in Rio Tinto plc can also be traded indirectly on the New York Stock Exchange via an American Depositary Receipt . As of 4 March 2009, Rio Tinto was the fourth-largest publicly listed mining company in the world, with a market capitalisation around $ 134 billion. As of mid-February 2009, shareholders were geographically distributed 42% in
6392-455: The Friedel–Crafts reactions . Aluminium trichloride has major industrial uses involving this reaction, such as in the manufacture of anthraquinones and styrene ; it is also often used as the precursor for many other aluminium compounds and as a reagent for converting nonmetal fluorides into the corresponding chlorides (a transhalogenation reaction ). Aluminium forms one stable oxide with
6528-475: The London Metal Exchange , the oldest industrial metal exchange in the world, in 1978. The output continued to grow: the annual production of aluminium exceeded 50,000,000 metric tons in 2013. The real price for aluminium declined from $ 14,000 per metric ton in 1900 to $ 2,340 in 1948 (in 1998 United States dollars). Extraction and processing costs were lowered over technological progress and
6664-612: The London Stock Exchange (symbol: RIO), under the name "Rio Tinto Plc", and the Australian Securities Exchange (symbol: RIO) in Sydney, under the name "Rio Tinto Limited". The dual-listed company structure grants shareholders of the two companies the same proportional economic interests and ownership rights in the consolidated Rio Tinto, in such a way as to be equivalent to all shareholders of
6800-585: The New York Stock Exchange , giving it listings on three major stock exchanges. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000 , it was ranked the world's 114th-largest public company. In May 2020, to expand the Brockman 4 mine , Rio Tinto demolished a sacred cave in Juukan Gorge , Western Australia , which had evidence of 46,000 years of continual human occupation, and was considered the only inland site in Australia to show signs of continual human occupation through
6936-458: The Phoenicians , Greeks , Romans , Visigoths and Moors . After a period of abandonment, the mines were rediscovered in 1556 and the Spanish government began operating them once again in 1724. However, Spain's mining operations there were inefficient, and the government itself was otherwise distracted by political and financial crises, leading the government to sell the mines in 1873 at
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#17327910981247072-628: The Pilbara , Western Australia. The Pilbara iron ore operations include 16 iron ore mines, four independent port terminals, a 1,700-kilometre rail network and related infrastructure. The corporation also has had a majority stake in Iron Ore Company of Canada since its 2000 hostile takeover of North Limited. Copper was one of Rio Tinto's main products from its earliest days operating at the Rio Tinto complex of mines in Spain. Since that time,
7208-472: The Spanish Civil War , World War II and Franco's nationalistic policies . In the 1950s, the political situation made it increasingly difficult for mostly British and French owners to extract profits from Spanish operations, and the company decided to dispose of the mines from which it took its name. Thus, in 1954, Rio Tinto Company sold two-thirds of its stake in the Rio Tinto mines, disposing of
7344-475: The aluminum spelling in his American Dictionary of the English Language . In the 1830s, the -um spelling gained usage in the United States; by the 1860s, it had become the more common spelling there outside science. In 1892, Hall used the -um spelling in his advertising handbill for his new electrolytic method of producing the metal, despite his constant use of the -ium spelling in all
7480-423: The chemical formula Al 2 O 3 , commonly called alumina . It can be found in nature in the mineral corundum , α-alumina; there is also a γ-alumina phase. Its crystalline form, corundum, is very hard ( Mohs hardness 9), has a high melting point of 2,045 °C (3,713 °F), has very low volatility, is chemically inert, and a good electrical insulator, it is often used in abrasives (such as toothpaste), as
7616-584: The free metal . It is obtained industrially by mining bauxite , a sedimentary rock rich in aluminium minerals. The discovery of aluminium was announced in 1825 by Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted . The first industrial production of aluminium was initiated by French chemist Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville in 1856. Aluminium became much more available to the public with the Hall–Héroult process developed independently by French engineer Paul Héroult and American engineer Charles Martin Hall in 1886, and
7752-551: The interstellar gas ; if the original Al were still present, gamma ray maps of the Milky Way would be brighter. Overall, the Earth is about 1.59% aluminium by mass (seventh in abundance by mass). Aluminium occurs in greater proportion in the Earth's crust than in the universe at large. This is because aluminium easily forms the oxide and becomes bound into rocks and stays in the Earth's crust , while less reactive metals sink to
7888-418: The uranium market ; to do so, the cartel engaged in bid rigging , price fixing , and market sharing . Westinghouse filed an antitrust lawsuit against cartel members in 1976 and the cartel disbanded. Like many major mining companies, Rio Tinto has historically grown through a series of mergers and acquisitions. The company's first major acquisition occurred in 1929, when the company issued stock for
8024-491: The $ 16 billion Canadian group's " poison pill " defence was not valid. Ivanhoe had developed Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, one of the world's largest-known copper deposits. On 28 January 2012, Rio Tinto gained control of Ivanhoe Mines and removed the management. In October 2013, Rio Tinto agreed to sell its majority stake in Australia's third-largest coal mine to Glencore and Sumitomo for a little over US$ 1 billion, as part of
8160-657: The 53-acre site in Oxfordshire closed between 2006 and 2007, and the factory and laboratory were demolished over the course of 2008–2009. In 2010, Alcan Packaging was sold to Amcor , Alcan Composites to Schweiter Technologies, and Alcan Food Packaging to Bemis . In 2011, Rio Tinto sold Apollo Global Management and FSI shareholdings of 51% and 10%, respectively, of Alcan Engineered Products (excluding Cable). Rio Tinto retained 39%. Aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English )
8296-526: The 5th century BCE. The ancients are known to have used alum as a dyeing mordant and for city defense. After the Crusades , alum, an indispensable good in the European fabric industry, was a subject of international commerce; it was imported to Europe from the eastern Mediterranean until the mid-15th century. The nature of alum remained unknown. Around 1530, Swiss physician Paracelsus suggested alum
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#17327910981248432-472: The Al–Zn–Mg class. Aluminium has a high chemical affinity to oxygen, which renders it suitable for use as a reducing agent in the thermite reaction. A fine powder of aluminium reacts explosively on contact with liquid oxygen ; under normal conditions, however, aluminium forms a thin oxide layer (~5 nm at room temperature) that protects the metal from further corrosion by oxygen, water, or dilute acid,
8568-649: The Australian coal businesses of the Peabody Energy . On 14 November 2007, Rio Tinto completed its largest acquisition to date, purchasing Canadian aluminium company Alcan for $ 38.1 billion, as of 2014 , "the largest mining deal ever completed". Alcan's chief executive, Jacynthe Côté, led the new division, renamed Rio Tinto Alcan with its headquarters situated in Montreal . Activity in 2008 and 2009
8704-466: The Australian firm Consolidated Zinc to form the Rio Tinto – Zinc Corporation (RTZ) and its main subsidiary, Conzinc Riotinto of Australia (CRA). The merger provided Rio Tinto the ability to exploit its new-found opportunities, and gave Consolidated Zinc a much larger asset base. RTZ and CRA were separately managed and operated, with CRA focusing on opportunities within Australasia and RTZ taking
8840-620: The Guinean Government signed a settlement agreement that secured Rio Tinto's mining rights in Guinea to the southern concession of Simandou, known as blocks 3 and 4. According to the agreement, Simfer would pay US$ 700 million and receive mining concession and government approval of the proposed Chalco and Rio Tinto Simandou joint venture. In April 2011, Rio Tinto gained a majority stake in Riversdale Mining . In 2011,
8976-672: The Rio Tinto Mine, the new ownership constructed a number of new processing facilities, innovated new mining techniques, and expanded mining activities. From 1877 to 1891, the Rio Tinto Mine was the world's leading producer of copper. From 1870 through 1925, the company was inwardly focused on fully exploiting the Rio Tinto Mine, with little attention paid to expansion or exploration activities outside of Spain. The company enjoyed strong financial success until 1914, colluding with other pyrite producers to control market prices. However, World War I and its aftermath effectively eliminated
9112-540: The United Kingdom, 18% in North America, 16% in Australia, 14% in Asia and 10% in continental Europe. On 8 November 2007, rival mining company BHP Billiton announced it was seeking to purchase Rio Tinto in an all-share deal. This offer was rejected by the board of Rio Tinto as "significantly undervalu[ing]" the company. Another attempt by BHP Billiton for a hostile takeover , valuing Rio Tinto at $ 147 billion,
9248-432: The United States as a viable market for European pyrites , leading to a decline in the firm's prominence. The company's failure to diversify during this period led to the slow decline of the company among the ranks of international mining firms. However, this changed in 1925, when Sir Auckland Geddes succeeded Lord Alfred Milner as chairman. Geddes and the new management team he installed focused on diversification of
9384-418: The United States dollar, and alumina prices. The BRIC countries' combined share in primary production and primary consumption grew substantially in the first decade of the 21st century. China is accumulating an especially large share of the world's production thanks to an abundance of resources, cheap energy, and governmental stimuli; it also increased its consumption share from 2% in 1972 to 40% in 2010. In
9520-462: The United States, Western Europe, and Japan, most aluminium was consumed in transportation, engineering, construction, and packaging. In 2021, prices for industrial metals such as aluminium have soared to near-record levels as energy shortages in China drive up costs for electricity. The names aluminium and aluminum are derived from the word alumine , an obsolete term for alumina , the primary naturally occurring oxide of aluminium . Alumine
9656-578: The aluminium atoms have tetrahedral four-coordination and the other half have trigonal bipyramidal five-coordination. Four pnictides – aluminium nitride (AlN), aluminium phosphide (AlP), aluminium arsenide (AlAs), and aluminium antimonide (AlSb) – are known. They are all III-V semiconductors isoelectronic to silicon and germanium , all of which but AlN have the zinc blende structure. All four can be made by high-temperature (and possibly high-pressure) direct reaction of their component elements. Aluminium alloys well with most other metals (with
9792-487: The arrested, Australian citizen Stern Hu , was "suspected of stealing Chinese state secrets for foreign countries and was detained on criminal charges", according to a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry. Stern Hu was also accused of bribery by Chinese steel mill executives for sensitive information during the iron ore contract negotiations. On 19 March 2010 Rio Tinto and its biggest shareholder, Chinalco , signed
9928-436: The characteristic physical properties of a post-transition metal, with longer-than-expected interatomic distances. Furthermore, as Al is a small and highly charged cation, it is strongly polarizing and bonding in aluminium compounds tends towards covalency ; this behavior is similar to that of beryllium (Be ), and the two display an example of a diagonal relationship . The underlying core under aluminium's valence shell
10064-523: The company has divested itself from its original Spanish mines, and grown its copper-mining capacity through acquisitions of major copper resources around the world. The copper group's main active mining interests are Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, Kennecott Utah Copper in the United States, and Minera Escondida in Chile. Most of these mines are joint ventures with other major mining companies, with Rio Tinto's ownership ranging from 30% to 80%; only Kennecott
10200-492: The company in represented by DPG Advisory Solutions. Rio Tinto's main business is the production of raw materials including copper, iron ore, bauxite, diamonds, uranium and industrial minerals including titanium dioxide, salt, gypsum and borates. Rio Tinto also performs processing on some of these materials, with plants dedicated to processing bauxite into alumina and aluminium, and smelting iron ore into iron. The company also produces other metals and minerals as by-products from
10336-454: The company initiated a $ 500-million project at Kitimat, British Columbia , the largest public-private partnership ever created in Canada at the time. Despite a June 1950 antitrust ruling by a US court that forced shareholders to divest themselves of shares in either Aluminum Limited (as the company was then known) or Alcoa, and the rise of American rivals Kaiser and Reynolds , Alcan remained
10472-562: The company rekindled its interest in potash when it entered a joint venture with Acron Group to develop the Albany potash development, in southern Saskatchewan , Canada. Following an exploration program, Acron in a June 2014 statement described Albany as "one of the best potash development opportunities in the world". On 13 December 2011, an independent arbitrator cleared the way for Rio Tinto, which had owned 49% of Ivanhoe Mines (now known as Turquoise Hill Resources ), to take it over: he said
10608-650: The company was renamed the Aluminum Company of Canada. It was responsible for rapid development in Arvida , today a part of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, by contributing to the construction of major ports and railway facilities. It began production at its sheet rolling and extrusion facility in Ontario in 1940. In 1931, the Northern Aluminum Co. Ltd., or Alcan Industries Ltd. pig and rolled aluminum factory
10744-456: The company's dual-listed company structure, management powers of the Rio Tinto are consolidated in a single senior management group led by a board of directors and executive committee. The board of directors has both executive and non-executive members, while the executive committee is composed of the heads of major operational groups. Rio Tinto engages professional lobbyists to represent its interests in various jurisdictions. In South Australia,
10880-498: The company's investment strategy and the introduction of organisational and marketing reforms. Geddes led the company into a series of joint ventures with customers in the development of new technologies, as well as exploration and development of new mines outside of Spain. Between 1925 and 1931, Geddes recruited two directors: JN Buchanan (finance director) and RM Preston (commercial director), as well as other executives involved with technical and other matters. Perhaps most significant
11016-419: The coordination numbers are lower. The other trihalides are dimeric or polymeric with tetrahedral four-coordinate aluminium centers. Aluminium trichloride (AlCl 3 ) has a layered polymeric structure below its melting point of 192.4 °C (378 °F) but transforms on melting to Al 2 Cl 6 dimers. At higher temperatures those increasingly dissociate into trigonal planar AlCl 3 monomers similar to
11152-428: The core. In the Earth's crust, aluminium is the most abundant metallic element (8.23% by mass ) and the third most abundant of all elements (after oxygen and silicon). A large number of silicates in the Earth's crust contain aluminium. In contrast, the Earth's mantle is only 2.38% aluminium by mass. Aluminium also occurs in seawater at a concentration of 2 μg/kg. Because of its strong affinity for oxygen, aluminium
11288-474: The decay of Al was responsible for the melting and differentiation of some asteroids after their formation 4.55 billion years ago. The remaining isotopes of aluminium, with mass numbers ranging from 21 to 43, all have half-lives well under an hour. Three metastable states are known, all with half-lives under a minute. An aluminium atom has 13 electrons, arranged in an electron configuration of [ Ne ] 3s 3p , with three electrons beyond
11424-399: The environment, no living organism is known to metabolize aluminium salts , but this aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of the abundance of these salts, the potential for a biological role for them is of interest, and studies are ongoing. Of aluminium isotopes, only Al is stable. This situation is common for elements with an odd atomic number. It is
11560-478: The exception of most alkali metals and group 13 metals) and over 150 intermetallics with other metals are known. Preparation involves heating fixed metals together in certain proportion, followed by gradual cooling and annealing . Bonding in them is predominantly metallic and the crystal structure primarily depends on efficiency of packing. There are few compounds with lower oxidation states. A few aluminium(I) compounds exist: AlF, AlCl, AlBr, and AlI exist in
11696-520: The fact that its nuclei are much lighter, while difference in the unit cell size does not compensate for this difference. The only lighter metals are the metals of groups 1 and 2 , which apart from beryllium and magnesium are too reactive for structural use (and beryllium is very toxic). Aluminium is not as strong or stiff as steel, but the low density makes up for this in the aerospace industry and for many other applications where light weight and relatively high strength are crucial. Pure aluminium
11832-495: The firm's plans to focus on larger operations. Less than a year later, Rio Tinto rejected two merger proposals from Glencore, proffered in July and August 2014; the merger of Glencore and Rio Tinto would have created the world's largest mining company. In May 2015, Rio Tinto announced plans to sell some of its aluminium assets as part of a possible $ 1 billion deal, two years after a similar but failed attempt. In September 2020, it
11968-730: The gas phase after explosion and in stellar absorption spectra. More thoroughly investigated are compounds of the formula R 4 Al 2 which contain an Al–Al bond and where R is a large organic ligand . A variety of compounds of empirical formula AlR 3 and AlR 1.5 Cl 1.5 exist. The aluminium trialkyls and triaryls are reactive, volatile, and colorless liquids or low-melting solids. They catch fire spontaneously in air and react with water, thus necessitating precautions when handling them. They often form dimers, unlike their boron analogues, but this tendency diminishes for branched-chain alkyls (e.g. Pr , Bu , Me 3 CCH 2 ); for example, triisobutylaluminium exists as an equilibrium mixture of
12104-453: The gaseous phase when the respective trihalide is heated with aluminium, and at cryogenic temperatures. A stable derivative of aluminium monoiodide is the cyclic adduct formed with triethylamine , Al 4 I 4 (NEt 3 ) 4 . Al 2 O and Al 2 S also exist but are very unstable. Very simple aluminium(II) compounds are invoked or observed in the reactions of Al metal with oxidants. For example, aluminium monoxide , AlO, has been detected in
12240-646: The halides, nitrate , and sulfate . For similar reasons, anhydrous aluminium salts cannot be made by heating their "hydrates": hydrated aluminium chloride is in fact not AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O but [Al(H 2 O) 6 ]Cl 3 , and the Al–O bonds are so strong that heating is not sufficient to break them and form Al–Cl bonds instead: All four trihalides are well known. Unlike the structures of the three heavier trihalides, aluminium fluoride (AlF 3 ) features six-coordinate aluminium, which explains its involatility and insolubility as well as high heat of formation . Each aluminium atom
12376-872: The last Ice Age . The company later apologised for the demolition and CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques subsequently stepped down. Rio Tinto has been widely criticised by environmental groups as well as the government of Norway for the environmental impacts of its mining activities. Claims of severe environmental damage related to its engagement in the Grasberg mine in Indonesia led the Government Pension Fund of Norway to exclude it from its investment portfolio. Academic observers have also expressed concern regarding Rio Tinto's operations in Papua New Guinea, which they allege were one catalyst of
12512-433: The low-pressure polymerization of ethene and propene . There are also some heterocyclic and cluster organoaluminium compounds involving Al–N bonds. The industrially most important aluminium hydride is lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH 4 ), which is used as a reducing agent in organic chemistry . It can be produced from lithium hydride and aluminium trichloride . The simplest hydride, aluminium hydride or alane,
12648-512: The mass production of aluminium led to its extensive use in industry and everyday life. In the First and Second World Wars, aluminium was a crucial strategic resource for aviation . In 1954, aluminium became the most produced non-ferrous metal , surpassing copper . In the 21st century, most aluminium was consumed in transportation, engineering, construction, and packaging in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. Despite its prevalence in
12784-529: The metal remained rare; its cost exceeded that of gold. The first industrial production of aluminium was established in 1856 by French chemist Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville and companions. Deville had discovered that aluminium trichloride could be reduced by sodium, which was more convenient and less expensive than potassium, which Wöhler had used. Even then, aluminium was still not of great purity and produced aluminium differed in properties by sample. Because of its electricity-conducting capacity, aluminium
12920-655: The metal to be isolated from alum was alumium , which Davy suggested in an 1808 article on his electrochemical research, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . It appeared that the name was created from the English word alum and the Latin suffix -ium ; but it was customary then to give elements names originating in Latin, so this name was not adopted universally. This name
13056-465: The metal with many uses at the time. During World War I , major governments demanded large shipments of aluminium for light strong airframes; during World War II , demand by major governments for aviation was even higher. By the mid-20th century, aluminium had become a part of everyday life and an essential component of housewares. In 1954, production of aluminium surpassed that of copper , historically second in production only to iron, making it
13192-434: The metal. Almost all metallic aluminium is produced from the ore bauxite (AlO x (OH) 3–2 x ). Bauxite occurs as a weathering product of low iron and silica bedrock in tropical climatic conditions. In 2017, most bauxite was mined in Australia, China, Guinea, and India. The history of aluminium has been shaped by usage of alum . The first written record of alum, made by Greek historian Herodotus , dates back to
13328-485: The monomer and dimer. These dimers, such as trimethylaluminium (Al 2 Me 6 ), usually feature tetrahedral Al centers formed by dimerization with some alkyl group bridging between both aluminium atoms. They are hard acids and react readily with ligands, forming adducts. In industry, they are mostly used in alkene insertion reactions, as discovered by Karl Ziegler , most importantly in "growth reactions" that form long-chain unbranched primary alkenes and alcohols, and in
13464-506: The most produced non-ferrous metal . During the mid-20th century, aluminium emerged as a civil engineering material, with building applications in both basic construction and interior finish work, and increasingly being used in military engineering, for both airplanes and land armor vehicle engines. Earth's first artificial satellite , launched in 1957, consisted of two separate aluminium semi-spheres joined and all subsequent space vehicles have used aluminium to some extent. The aluminium can
13600-614: The next decade, the -um spelling dominated American usage. In 1925, the American Chemical Society adopted this spelling. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element in 1990. In 1993, they recognized aluminum as an acceptable variant; the most recent 2005 edition of the IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry also acknowledges this spelling. IUPAC official publications use
13736-587: The number-three in packaging. In 2007, Rio Tinto acquired Alcan in a US$ 38 billion deal. The offer served to undermine a hostile bid of $ 27.5bn from Alcoa , Alcan's US rival. Rio Tinto thus became the world's leading aluminum producer. The company quickly announced its intention to sell off the Engineered Products and Packaging business groups. Alcan Incorporated was amalgamated with Rio Tinto Canada Holding Incorporated and renamed Rio Tinto Alcan Incorporated in 2008. The various Alcan facilities on
13872-429: The only primordial aluminium isotope, i.e. the only one that has existed on Earth in its current form since the formation of the planet. It is therefore a mononuclidic element and its standard atomic weight is virtually the same as that of the isotope. This makes aluminium very useful in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), as its single stable isotope has a high NMR sensitivity. The standard atomic weight of aluminium
14008-407: The oxidation state 3+. The coordination number of such compounds varies, but generally Al is either six- or four-coordinate. Almost all compounds of aluminium(III) are colorless. In aqueous solution, Al exists as the hexaaqua cation [Al(H 2 O) 6 ] , which has an approximate K a of 10 . Such solutions are acidic as this cation can act as a proton donor and progressively hydrolyze until
14144-460: The patents he filed between 1886 and 1903. It is unknown whether this spelling was introduced by mistake or intentionally, but Hall preferred aluminum since its introduction because it resembled platinum , the name of a prestigious metal. By 1890, both spellings had been common in the United States, the -ium spelling being slightly more common; by 1895, the situation had reversed; by 1900, aluminum had become twice as common as aluminium ; in
14280-404: The planet. However, minute traces of Al are produced from argon in the atmosphere by spallation caused by cosmic ray protons. The ratio of Al to Be has been used for radiodating of geological processes over 10 to 10 year time scales, in particular transport, deposition, sediment storage, burial times, and erosion. Most meteorite scientists believe that the energy released by
14416-635: The plant's prosperity, with 24% of the town's workers being employed there. At this time, 13% were employed in distribution, 7% in clothing, and 5% in agriculture. With the onset of World War II, the Allies ' demand for aluminum expanded rapidly, and with it the company. Already accounting for roughly three-quarters of the production capacity for aluminum in the British Empire , the company's "assets increased fivefold; sales increased fivefold; net income increased sixfold" between 1937 and 1944, according to
14552-553: The processing of its main resources, including gold, silver, molybdenum , sulphuric acid , nickel, potash , lead and zinc . Rio Tinto controls gross assets of $ 81 billion in value across the globe, with main concentrations in Australia (35%), Canada (34%), Europe (13%) and the United States (11%), and smaller holdings in South America (3%), Africa (3%) and Indonesia (1%). The Australian operations of Rio Tinto Iron Ore (RTIO) comprises an integrated iron ore operations in
14688-507: The proposed deal was expected in the third quarter of 2009. Rio Tinto is believed to have pursued this combined asset and convertible bond sale to raise cash to satisfy its debt obligations, which required payments of $ 9.0 billion in October 2009 and $ 10.5 billion by the end of 2010. The company has also noted China's increasing appetite for commodities, and the potential for increased opportunities to exploit these market trends, as
14824-430: The purchase of ownership interests of Rio Tinto assets in its iron ore, copper and aluminium operations, plus $ 7.2 billion for convertible bonds . The transaction would bring Chinalco's ownership of the company to roughly 18.5%. The deal is still pending approval from regulators in the United States and China, and has not yet been approved by shareholders, although regulatory approval has been received from Germany and
14960-641: The purpose of raising 2.5 million pounds to invest in Northern Rhodesian copper mining companies, which was fully invested by the end of 1930. The Rio Tinto company consolidated its holdings of these various firms under the Rhokana Corporation by forcing the various companies to merge. Rio Tinto's investment in Rhodesian copper mines did much to support the company through troubled times at its Spanish Rio Tinto operations spanning
15096-477: The refining of bauxite and iron ore. It has joint head offices in London , England and Melbourne , Australia. Rio Tinto is a dual-listed company traded on both the London Stock Exchange , where it is a component of the FTSE 100 Index , and the Australian Securities Exchange , where it is a component of the S&P/ASX 200 index. American depositary shares of Rio Tinto's British branch are also traded on
15232-423: The respective hydrogen chalcogenide . As aluminium is a small atom relative to these chalcogens, these have four-coordinate tetrahedral aluminium with various polymorphs having structures related to wurtzite , with two-thirds of the possible metal sites occupied either in an orderly (α) or random (β) fashion; the sulfide also has a γ form related to γ-alumina, and an unusual high-temperature hexagonal form where half
15368-411: The rest of the world. However, the companies continued to trade separately, and RTZ's ownership of CRA dipped below 50% by 1986. The two companies' strategic needs eventually led to conflicts of interest regarding new mining opportunities, and shareholders of both companies determined a merger was in their mutual best interest. In 1995, the companies merged into a dual listed company , in which management
15504-451: The rest over the following years. The sale of the mines financed extensive exploration activities over the following decade. The company's exploration activities presented the company with an abundance of opportunities, but it lacked sufficient capital and operating revenue to exploit those opportunities. This situation precipitated the next, and perhaps most significant, merger in the company's history. In 1962, Rio Tinto Company merged with
15640-485: The scale of the economies. However, the need to exploit lower-grade poorer quality deposits and the use of fast increasing input costs (above all, energy) increased the net cost of aluminium; the real price began to grow in the 1970s with the rise of energy cost. Production moved from the industrialized countries to countries where production was cheaper. Production costs in the late 20th century changed because of advances in technology, lower energy prices, exchange rates of
15776-408: The structure of BCl 3 . Aluminium tribromide and aluminium triiodide form Al 2 X 6 dimers in all three phases and hence do not show such significant changes of properties upon phase change. These materials are prepared by treating aluminium with the halogen. The aluminium trihalides form many addition compounds or complexes; their Lewis acidic nature makes them useful as catalysts for
15912-427: The two companies actually being shareholders in a single, unified entity. This structure was implemented to avoid adverse tax consequences and regulatory burdens. To eliminate currency exchange issues, the company's accounts are kept, and dividends paid, in United States dollars. Rio Tinto is one of the largest companies listed on either exchange. As such, it is included in the widely quoted indices for each market:
16048-536: The two therefore look similar. Aluminium is also good at reflecting solar radiation , although prolonged exposure to sunlight in air adds wear to the surface of the metal; this may be prevented if aluminium is anodized , which adds a protective layer of oxide on the surface. The density of aluminium is 2.70 g/cm , about 1/3 that of steel, much lower than other commonly encountered metals, making aluminium parts easily identifiable through their lightness. Aluminium's low density compared to most other metals arises from
16184-461: Was a salt of an earth of alum. In 1595, German doctor and chemist Andreas Libavius experimentally confirmed this. In 1722, German chemist Friedrich Hoffmann announced his belief that the base of alum was a distinct earth. In 1754, German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf synthesized alumina by boiling clay in sulfuric acid and subsequently adding potash . Attempts to produce aluminium date back to 1760. The first successful attempt, however,
16320-426: Was able to divest two-thirds of its Spanish operations in 1954 and the remainder over the following years. The company was part of the uranium producers' cartel , Societe d'Etudes de Recherches d'Uranium, which operated from 1972 to 1976. The other cartel members were based in Australia, France, and South Africa. It was formed by the major non-United States uranium producers to mitigate the impacts of US policy on
16456-592: Was announced Rio Tinto had acquired a 15% stake in the Australian exploration and development company, Sovereign Metals for US $ 27.6 million. In October 2024, Rio Tinto signed an agreement to acquire U.S.-based Arcadium Lithium for $ 6.7 billion. The deal involved a cash offer of $ 5.85 per share, reflecting a nearly 90% premium over Arcadium's recent closing price. The acquisition, expected to close in mid-2025, would integrate Arcadium's lithium assets into Rio's operations, further enhancing its portfolio of critical minerals. The company has operations on six continents, but
16592-592: Was announced that the company's chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques , along with two executives, would resign because of Rio Tinto's destruction of two ancient rock shelters in the Pilbara region of Australia. The company's chief financial officer, Jakob Stausholm , became the new chief executive on 1 January 2021. In March 2022, Rio Tinto completed the acquisition of Rincon Mining's lithium project in Argentina for $ 825 million, following approval by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board . In July 2023, it
16728-494: Was borrowed from French, which in turn derived it from alumen , the classical Latin name for alum , the mineral from which it was collected. The Latin word alumen stems from the Proto-Indo-European root *alu- meaning "bitter" or "beer". British chemist Humphry Davy , who performed a number of experiments aimed to isolate the metal, is credited as the person who named the element. The first name proposed for
16864-422: Was completed in 1824 by Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted . He reacted anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium amalgam , yielding a lump of metal looking similar to tin. He presented his results and demonstrated a sample of the new metal in 1825. In 1827, German chemist Friedrich Wöhler repeated Ørsted's experiments but did not identify any aluminium. (The reason for this inconsistency
17000-480: Was consolidated into a single entity and shareholder interests were aligned and equivalent, although maintained as shares in separately named entities. The merger also precipitated a name change; after two years as RTZ-CRA , RTZ became Rio Tinto plc and CRA became Rio Tinto Limited , referred to collectively as Rio Tinto . Major acquisitions following the Consolidated Zinc merger included US Borax ,
17136-496: Was criticized by contemporary chemists from France, Germany, and Sweden, who insisted the metal should be named for the oxide, alumina, from which it would be isolated. The English name alum does not come directly from Latin, whereas alumine / alumina obviously comes from the Latin word alumen (upon declension , alumen changes to alumin- ). One example was Essai sur la Nomenclature chimique (July 1811), written in French by
17272-741: Was focused on divestments of assets to raise cash and refocus on core business opportunities. The company sold three major assets in 2008, raising about $ 3 billion in cash. In the first quarter of 2009, Rio Tinto reached agreements to sell its interests in the Corumbá iron ore mine and the Jacobs Ranch coal mine, and completed sales of an aluminium smelter in China and the company's potash operations, for an additional estimated $ 2.5 billion. On 5 July 2009, four Rio Tinto employees were arrested in Shanghai for corruption and espionage. One of
17408-634: Was headquartered in Montreal , in its Maison Alcan complex. The Northern Aluminum Company was founded in 1902 in Shawinigan , Quebec, as part of the Pittsburgh Reduction Company . In 1913, the company opened a kitchen utensil production plant and foundry in Toronto . It added a rolling mill in the plant a few years later. During World War I (1914–18), aluminum production increased to 131,000 tonnes from 69,000. In 1925,
17544-468: Was in talks to receive a substantial equity infusion from Chinalco , a major Chinese state-controlled mining enterprise, in exchange for ownership interest in certain assets and bonds. Chinalco was already a major shareholder, having bought up 9% of the company in a surprise move in early 2008; its ownership stake had risen to 9.8% by 2014, making it Rio Tinto's biggest investor. The proposed investment structure reportedly involves $ 12.3 billion for
17680-418: Was invented in 1956 and employed as a storage for drinks in 1958. Throughout the 20th century, the production of aluminium rose rapidly: while the world production of aluminium in 1900 was 6,800 metric tons, the annual production first exceeded 100,000 metric tons in 1916; 1,000,000 tons in 1941; 10,000,000 tons in 1971. In the 1970s, the increased demand for aluminium made it an exchange commodity; it entered
17816-433: Was only discovered in 1921.) He conducted a similar experiment in the same year by mixing anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium and produced a powder of aluminium. In 1845, he was able to produce small pieces of the metal and described some physical properties of this metal. For many years thereafter, Wöhler was credited as the discoverer of aluminium. As Wöhler's method could not yield great quantities of aluminium,
17952-403: Was opened on land acquired in 1929 in the then-hamlet of Hardwick, Banbury , England. The factory helped build parts for Spitfire fighter aircraft during World War II . The Alcan Laboratories Club was founded in 1948 by the lab technicians to promote the well-being of the workforce in general. As a result, the village began to grow. By the early 1950s, the local economy had become dependent on
18088-568: Was partially motivated as a response to North Limited's 1999 bid to have Rio Tinto's Pilbara railway network declared open access . The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission regulatory body approved the acquisition in August 2000, and the purchase was completed in October of the same year. That year, Rio Tinto also bought North Limited and Ashton Mining for US$ 4 billion, adding additional resources in aluminium, iron ore, diamonds and coal. In 2001, it bought (under Coal & Allied)
18224-577: Was rejected on the same grounds. Meanwhile, the Chinese government-owned resources group Chinalco and the US aluminium producer Alcoa purchased 12% of Rio Tinto's London-listed shares in a move that would block or severely complicate BHP Billiton's plans to buy the company. BHP Billiton's bid was withdrawn on 25 November 2008, with the BHP citing market instability from the global financial crisis of 2008–2009 . On 1 February 2009, Rio Tinto management announced it
18360-541: Was the company's investment in copper mines in Northern Rhodesia , later Zambia , which it eventually consolidated into the Rhokana Corporation. These and later efforts at diversification eventually allowed the company to divest from the Rio Tinto mine in Spain. By the 1950s, Franco 's nationalistic government had made it increasingly difficult to exploit Spanish resources for the profit of foreigners. Rio Tinto Company, supported by its international investments,
18496-580: Was used as the cap of the Washington Monument , completed in 1885. The tallest building in the world at the time, the non-corroding metal cap was intended to serve as a lightning rod peak. The first industrial large-scale production method was independently developed in 1886 by French engineer Paul Héroult and American engineer Charles Martin Hall ; it is now known as the Hall–Héroult process . The Hall–Héroult process converts alumina into metal. Austrian chemist Carl Joseph Bayer discovered
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