Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Purpose & Values
The drive for innovation and continuous improvement is at the heart of our purpose
Business Strategy
Climate change is at the heart of our business strategy
Innovation
Finding better ways to do things is in our DNA
We supply the metals and minerals used to help the world grow and decarbonise
Iron Ore
Iron ore is the primary raw material used to make steel
7 things the world will need for a low-carbon future
Wind, sun and water – what else do you need to make renewable energy work?
Sustainability – the expectation, not the exception
Shaping our aluminium product offering to meet demand for greener metals
Bringing to market materials critical to urbanisation and the transition to a low-carbon economy
Look inside a mine of the future
Our most intelligent mine yet is pioneering new mining technologies
Rincon Project
A long-life, low-cost and low-carbon lithium source
Simandou Project
The world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit
Providing materials the world needs in a responsible way
Sustainability Reporting 2023
As temporary custodians of the land where we operate, we are entrusted with accessing the world’s essential materials and making them available for society’s use
Climate Change
We’re targeting net zero emissions by 2050
Tailings
We’ve launched a new interactive map of our tailings facilities
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
Reports 2023
Download our 2023 Annual Report, Climate Change Report, Sustainability Fact Book and Taxes Paid Report
Get the latest news, stories and updates
Things you can't live without
Our podcast discussing what needs to happen to create a sustainable future for the everyday items we have come to rely on
A new way to decarbonise steel
Tackling a global challenge
Tackling it all
A short documentary series with the Queensland Reds is inspiring working women everywhere
Discover more about life at Rio Tinto
Graduates and students
If you want to drive real change, we have just the place to do it
Empowering families with flexibility
Supporting new parents of any gender with equal access to parental leave
Available jobs
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Ownership
Product
Production
Started
2023 figures
Our BC Works operation, in Kitimat, British Columbia, comprises a newly modernised aluminium smelter and the Kemano Powerhouse, a hydropower facility supplied by the Nechako reservoir. From Canada’s west coast, we transport our products by ship and rail, primarily to customers in Japan, South Korea and the United States.
With a total contribution of over C$842 million to the British Columbia economy in 2019, we are one of the single largest contributors to the province’s manufacturing GDP. In 2019, BC Works was certified by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) for producing aluminium to the highest internationally recognised standard for responsible environmental, social and governance practices.
When BC Works opened in 1954, it was the world’s largest smelter powered by hydroelectricity. Today, following a C$6 billion investment to modernise the smelter, the aluminium we produce here has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world. The upgrade, completed in 2016, included installing smelting equipment that uses our state-of-the-art AP Technology, making BC Works not only more efficient and commercially competitive but also cleaner: we now produce twice as much aluminium as we did previously, with half the greenhouse gas emissions.
Benefits of the modernised smelter, one of the largest private construction projects in British Columbia’s history, include:
Our Kemano Powerhouse receives water from the Nechako Reservoir via a single tunnel that is more than 65 years old, and is even today the largest high-pressure hydropower generation facility in North America. In 2017, we announced an investment of C$600 million in a second tunnel at Kemano to ensure that the power to our smelter remains secure and sustainable.
A tunnel boring machine, named tl’ughus by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation after a legendary giant monster snake, cut 7.6 kilometres through the rock in remote mountains over 30 months, completing the route for a 16 kilometre tunnel that was started in the early 1990s. The project was completed in May 2022.
Northern British Columbia is home to many Indigenous Peoples including the Haisla Nation, whose main community is Kitamaat Village, near our smelter.
In 1999, BC Works became the first industrial facility in British Columbia to obtain what is called a “multi-media environmental permit” from the provincial government. This permit sets standards of operation and requires annual reporting on a variety of performance measures: air emissions, ambient air quality, effluents, groundwater, vegetation and waste management. The yearly performance of the smelter is published in our operation’s Annual Environmental Report.
We are focused on minimising the impacts of our operation on the environment. Our Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) program, which is based on an Adaptive Management Approach that commits us to extensive monitoring, regular reporting and taking measurable actions, as needed, monitors and reports on sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from our smelter.
From 2019 to 2024, we partnered with the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) to establish the NSERC/Rio Tinto Senior Industrial Research Chair in Climate Change and Water Security. This C$1.5 million dollar project advanced research programs in the region and provided first-hand learning opportunities for students. It included water temperature monitoring in regulated and unregulated sites across the Nechako Watershed and a comprehensive weather station in place to monitor storms, and record the temperature, humidity, snow depth, wind speed and direction, solar radiation and barometric pressure.
Rio Tinto BC Works is conducting a consultation on its Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) Program. Launched in 2014, the SO2 EEM Program is designed to measure the amount of SO2 being produced by the smelter, monitor potential effects on human health, soil, vegetation, or lakes, and put controls in place to reduce harm to the environment. The Program is entering its third phase and the current consultation aims at answering questions, addressing concerns and gathering feedback with respect to the changes proposed to the Program.
Questions or concerns about the SO2 EEM Program or the consultation? Reach out to us at BCWorksInfo@riotinto.com.
The Nechako Reservoir provides stable, low cost, green hydro-electric power to energise the Kitimat smelter.
KITIMAT, Canada – Rio Tinto will invest more than CAN$135 million to replace the alumina conveyor at its Kitimat plant, representing the most substantial investment in the operation since the smelter’s modernization a decade ago. The alumina conveyor is essential for Kitimat’s operations, serving as the conduit for transporting approximately 800,000 tonnes of raw alumina per year on a 1.1-kil
KITIMAT, Canada – Rio Tinto has commissioned a second tunnel to carry water into the Kemano Powerhouse in British Columbia, marking the end of the Kemano T2 hydropower project. The new, 16-kilometre tunnel was filled up with water and produced its first megawatt of electricity in July 2022 after its construction was completed in May 2022. Both T1 and T2 are now operating together, ensuring the lon
KITIMAT, Canada – Rio Tinto and LNG Canada today opened a newly extended wharf that will increase the capacity of Rio Tinto’s port facilities in Kitimat and support economic diversification in Northern British Columbia. The new wharf was built for Rio Tinto at its existing Terminal A facility by LNG Canada. It will replace a wharf and land leased to LNG Canada in 2018 for use to start exporting li
PO Box 1800 1 Smeltersite Road Kitimat BC V8C 2H2, Canada
E: BC Works Enquiries T: +1 250 639 8383
PO Box 936 Unit 3B, 321 Highway 16 Evergreen Mall BC VOJ 1E0 Canada
E: Nechako Reservoir Enquiries T: +1 250 692 9618
PO Box 25 158 Stewart Street Vanderhoof BC V0J 3A0, Canada
T: +1 250 639 8601 T: +1 250 639 8446
T: +1 250 639 8273
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With the exception of the use of cookies (explained below), Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
Part 1 of this Privacy Policy contains the Rio Tinto Data Privacy Standard, which provides an overview of Rio Tinto’s approach to personal data processing. There is additional information in the appendices to the Data Privacy Standard, including information about disclosures, trans-border data transfers, the exercise of data subject rights and how to make complaints or obtain further information relating to Rio Tinto’s processing of your personal data.
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