According to foreign media reports, Rio Tinto announced that it had completed the acquisition of 11.65% of the shares of Boyne Smelter (BSL) held by Mitsubishi Corporation on September 30.

　　BSL is located in Queensland and is the second largest aluminum smelter in Australia. After the transaction is completed, Rio Tinto's shareholding in BSL will increase to 71.04%, and Mitsubishi will no longer hold any shares in BSL.

　　On May 31, 2024, Rio Tinto announced that it had agreed to acquire Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (SCC)'s 2.46% stake in BSL. After the transaction is completed, Rio Tinto will hold a total of 73.5% of the Boyne smelter joint venture. The remaining shares will be held by YKK Aluminium (9.50%), UACJ Australia (9.29%) and Southern Cross Aluminium (7.71%).

　　It is reported that the Boyne smelter has been in operation for more than 40 years. Investment in the plant in the past few years has increased its annual aluminum production capacity from 210,000 tons to the current more than 500,000 tons.

　　Rio Tinto’s share of BSL’s aluminium production (59.4% stake at that time) is expected to be around 295,000 tonnes in 2023 and 150,000 tonnes in the first half of 2024.

　　In the first half of 2024, Rio Tinto produced 1.65 million tons of aluminum, a year-on-year decrease of 52%. The company expects aluminum production in 2024 to be between 3.2 million tons and 3.4 million tons, and Rio Tinto's aluminum production in 2023 was 3.27 million tons.