Producer
Rio Tinto Aluminium
Rio Tinto bauxite and alumina subsidiary; operates Weipa (Queensland, ~34 Mt/yr) and Amrun (Queensland, ~23 Mt/yr) bauxite mines — among the world's largest; also holds Guinea bauxite concessions through CBG JV (Halco); supplies Yarwun and Queensland Alumina Ltd refineries
4
Inputs supplied
1
Goods downstream
4
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
4 inputs Rio Tinto Aluminium supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
mineral
Bauxite Ore (Primary Aluminum Feedstock) →
mineral
Bauxite Ore (Primary Aluminum Feedstock) →
mineral
Alumina (Aluminum Oxide, Al₂O₃) →
mineral
Calcined Petroleum Coke (CPC) — Aluminum Anodes →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Rio Tinto Aluminium makes, pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
4 facilities
ISAL Smelter (Iceland) →
ISHafnarfjörður, Iceland · primary aluminum smelting
99.98% renewable power (hydro + geothermal); ~190,000 tonnes/year. Part of Iceland's 3-smelter cluster consuming 72% of national electricity. CO₂ intensity ~6x lower than global average.
Rio Tinto Alma Smelter →
CAAlma, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, Canada · primary aluminum smelting
Largest of Rio Tinto's 5 Quebec smelters; ~450,000 tonnes/year. Powered by dedicated hydroelectric facilities (Saguenay river system). Part of the largest single regional aluminum cluster in the Western world.
Rio Tinto – Weipa Mine (Queensland) →
AUQueensland
One of the world's largest open-cut bauxite mines; ~34 Mt/yr production; feeds Yarwun and Queensland Alumina refineries; operated continuously since 1963; high-volume but lower-grade than Guinea ore
Rio Tinto – Yarwun Refinery (Queensland) →
AUQueensland
Rio Tinto alumina refinery at Gladstone, Queensland; ~3.4 Mt/yr capacity; fed by Weipa bauxite; supplies Pacific aluminum smelters and export market; also holds 30.3% of Queensland Alumina Ltd (QAL) which is another ~3.9 Mt/yr Gladstone refinery
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Bauxite Mining (Queensland + Guinea)
35%Alumina Refining (Queensland)
22%Primary Aluminum Smelting
30%Downstream & Specialty Aluminum
13%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2023
Rio Tinto's New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) at Tiwai Point is the single largest electricity consumer in New Zealand — consuming ~572 MW continuously, representing approximately 12-13% of New Zealand's total national electricity demand. Meridian Energy supplies NZAS from Manapouri HPP; NZAS uses 79% of Manapouri's total output. The smelter is simultaneously an aluminum factory and a dispatchable load anchor for New Zealand's South Island electricity grid. Multiple times since 2012, NZAS has threatened permanent closure due to high power costs and low aluminum prices. Each time, closure threats triggered immediate concerns about New Zealand's grid stability: with 572 MW of demand suddenly disappearing, the South Island would have massive generation surplus, potentially stranding the Manapouri hydro investment and disrupting electricity market pricing. An aluminum smelter is a hidden grid stabilization asset — its continued operation is quietly essential to South Island electricity system economics.
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Ltd. ↗Capacity2023
Rio Tinto's Weipa and Amrun bauxite mines on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula make it the world's largest seaborne bauxite exporter — approximately 25% of global bauxite trade. The Queensland bauxite complex exports primarily to China, serving Chinese alumina refineries and smelters. Post-2022 Australia-China trade tensions (following China's coal, wine, barley, beef import restrictions on Australia) created anxiety about whether China would retaliate against Australian bauxite. Unlike coal, which China replaced from other sources, Australian bauxite is harder to substitute — Guinea is the main alternative but Guinea's infrastructure is far less developed. The RUSAL-Rio Tinto QAL JV also became complicated post-2022: RUSAL's sanctioned status made Rio Tinto's 50% QAL partnership legally uncertain, with Rio Tinto ultimately choosing to continue the joint venture under OFAC license rather than unwind it.
Rio Tinto Group ↗Origin2023
Rio Tinto Aluminium traces to the 2007 acquisition of Alcan (Canadian Aluminium) for C$38.1 billion — at the time one of the largest mining acquisitions in history, just before the 2008 financial crisis made it look catastrophically overpaid. Alcan brought the ISAL (Iceland) and NZAS (New Zealand) smelters, both powered by hydro/geothermal; the Weipa and Amrun Queensland bauxite mines; and the Québec smelter network (Arvida, Aluminerie Alouette JV). Rio Tinto sold most of the Quebec smelters to various buyers between 2009-2013 to reduce debt. The retained assets — particularly the Queensland bauxite mining complex (Weipa + Amrun) — make Rio Tinto the world's largest seaborne bauxite exporter, while the ISAL and NZAS smelters provide a green aluminum footprint.
Rio Tinto Group ↗