SAGUENAY, Que. — Rio Tinto says it is going to make a $1.4-billion funding to broaden an aluminum smelter geared up with low-carbon know-how in Saguenay, Que., one thing that might assist in the manufacturing of electrical automobiles.

The Anglo-Australian metals and mining big says it plans to construct 96 new pots that use the greener AP60 know-how on an present web site adjoining to the 97-year-old Arivda aluminum smelter.

The announcement at present eases nervousness over jobs forward of that plant’s closure in 2025, and provides extra weight to Rio Tinto’s declare to being a producer of inexperienced aluminum, with the newer services emitting far fewer greenhouse gasoline emissions.

The funding on the Jonquiere Complicated roughly 200 kilometres north of Quebec Metropolis would finally churn out 220,000 tonness of major aluminum per yr, over 360 per cent greater than its present output.

The corporate says the quantity may furnish sufficient for 400,000 electrical vehicles, although the entire falls in need of the 400,000-tonne smelter that was pledged in 2006 by former proprietor Alcan Inc. — acquired the following yr by Rio Tinto.

Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm says the funding marks the corporate’s largest in Quebec — and in addition within the West — in a decade, with the province granting $150 million in funding assist.