Anglesey Aluminium Metal Ltd. was a joint venture between Rio Tinto and

Kaiser Aluminum Kaiser Aluminum Corporation is an American aluminum producer. It is a spinoff from Kaiser Aluminum and Chemicals Corporation, which came to be when common stock was offered in Permanente Metals Corporation and Permanente Metals Corporation's na ...

. Its

aluminium smelter Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an List of alumina refineries, alumina refinery. ...

, located on the outskirts of

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

, was one of the largest employers in

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

, with 540 staff members, and began to produce aluminium in 1971. It was built on the Penrhos Estate, of which were sold by the Stanley family for the project. Up until its closure it produced up to 142,000 tonnes of aluminium every year and was the biggest single user of electricity (255 MW) in the United Kingdom.

Alumina Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly ...

and coke shipped from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

would berth at the company's private jetty in Holyhead harbour. This jetty is linked by a series of conveyor belts passing through tunnels to the plant. A spur rail link from the main

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Main Line ( or ; ), also known as the North Wales Coast Line (), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, England, running from Crewe on the West Coast Main Line to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey. The lin ...

runs into the plant and was used for both receipt of raw materials and despatch of aluminium. The plant was powered from the National Grid and received most of its electricity from Wylfa nuclear power station away. Anglesey Aluminium was used as a base load for Wylfa and saved the grid the cost of keeping a power station on standby. The power contract terminated in 2009, and the aluminium smelting operation was shut down as no new contract was negotiated. The aluminium re-melt facility initially remained open after the shut down of the smelter, but its closure was announced in February 2013. The company announced tentative plans for a

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

plant on the site, but smelting operations and the plant were mothballed and the plant was finally cleared in 2023 to prepare for redevelopment. On 20 March 2024, the site's tall chimney was demolished; the last of the visible structures of the aluminium smelting plant. It was announced in September 2022 that the former Anglesey Aluminium site had been purchased by

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...

, with their intention to use the site to facilitate an extension of Stena's existing operations of the Port of Holyhead. The sale included the spur rail line, the jetty in Holyhead harbour and the former conveyor tunnel linking the jetty to the main site. Near the smelter the Aluminium Powder Company (ALPOCO) produces aluminium powder, which is used in pastes, pigments, chemicals, metallurgy, refractory, propulsion, pyrotechnics, spray deposition and powder metallurgy. Adjacent to the site is the public access Penrhos Country Park.

References

External links

A.L.P.O.C.O.Aerial Image of Anglesey Aluminium Plant - www.pixaerial.co.uk
{{coord, 53.29634, N, 4.596555, W, region:GB-AGY_type:landmark, display=title Manufacturing companies of Wales Aluminium companies of the United Kingdom Aluminium smelters Holyhead Non-ferrous metallurgical works in the United Kingdom Former Rio Tinto (corporation) subsidiaries Former joint ventures Kaiser Aluminum

See also

References

External links