Australia to Spend $2.5 Billion to Save Aluminum Factory

By Ben Clifford

ABC Newcastle

Topic: Mining and Metals

Rio Tinto, the owner of the Tomago Aluminum factory, said it might close due to high energy costs.

In short:

The governments of New South Wales and Australia will spend $2.5 billion to save the Tomago Aluminum factory. This will help keep the factory open for 10 more years.

The factory's owner, Rio Tinto, said it might close in 2029 because energy costs are rising.

What's next?

The prime minister and the leader of New South Wales will visit the factory on Thursday.

The governments will split the $2.5 billion cost. This will help the factory and the people who work there.

Last year, Rio Tinto said the factory might close in 2028 because energy costs are too high.

The Tomago factory uses a lot of electricity - about 10% of the state's total.

The governments said the money will help keep the factory open and make it more environmentally friendly.

The prime minister said a deal would be made soon when he visited the factory in December.

The governments' investment will help the factory use renewable energy and reduce its carbon footprint.

The NSW government will give up to $1.225 billion over 10 years.

Rio Tinto will also invest $1.1 billion to reduce energy use and switch to renewables.

The company will spend $100 million to reduce carbon emissions and help the energy grid.

The prime minister and the NSW leader will visit the factory to talk about the deal.

The prime minister thought a deal could be made quickly when he visited the factory before.

But the plans were delayed because the governments couldn't agree on the funding.

The federal government wanted to split the cost 50/50 with the NSW government.

The NSW leader said the deal had to be good for the state's taxpayers.

The details of the deal will be announced soon.

Other effects

The factory has about 1,000 workers and has been open since 1983.

It uses a lot of electricity because it operates 24 hours a day.

The government has helped other factories in trouble, like the Mount Isa Copper factory.

The workers' union said the employees were worried about their jobs.

A union leader said the news of the deal is great for the workers.

The workers were very stressed because they didn't know what would happen to their jobs.

Rio Tinto made a $10 billion profit in 2025.

The company's aluminum and lithium projects are worth $4.6 billion.

Get local news in your inbox

See more ABC news

Promotion

Pratique d'écoute