ALUMINUM: Rio Tinto wins Can-Am award for Kitimat smelter

[caption id="attachment_1003720623" align="aligncenter" width="569"] Rio Tinto’s award winning aluminum smelter in Kitimat, B.C. (Image: Canadian-American Business Council)[/caption] BRITISH COLUMBIA – Rio Tinto has won the Canadian-American Business Council’s Corporate Leadership Award for the $6-billion modernization of its BC Works smelter at Kitimat. The smelter produces some of the world’s lowest carbon aluminum. The Corporate Leadership Award is presented at an annual State of the Relationship dinner in Ottawa, Ont., celebrating the ties between Canada and the United States. This year's event focused on the importance of trade, and was also the first public event for incoming U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Knight Craft. CABC chief executive officer Maryscott Greenwood said, "Rio Tinto has shown itself to be a leading North American business through its commitment to sustainability and innovation, and its significant contribution to supporting jobs and economic growth.” Rio Tinto Aluminum chief executive Alf Barrios said, "We are proud to be celebrating the outstanding efforts of our people to deliver this state-of-the art smelter. "The combination of clean hydropower with the leading edge technology in the new smelter allows us to produce aluminum with one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world. "We have increased the smelter's production capacity by close to 50%,” said Barrios, “at the same time as improving environmental performance by halving overall emissions." Watch the award video at  https://youtu.be/gkudfvaYeNM.