It was an unusual Tuesday afternoon in Sorel-Tracy, as Rio Tinto Fer et Titane announced a joint investment with the federal government of $737 million over eight years to accelerate the decarbonization of its industrial activities and the transformation of critical metals in Quebec. A major investment in the economy of the XXIe century.
Posted at 6:30 a.m.
An announcement of this magnitude, in a sector as critical as that of mining and metals, it does not rain tons in Quebec. However, we would like similar initiatives to multiply throughout the territory and in all sectors of activity.
Imagine if the multinational Glencore also decided to open its billionaire coffers so significantly to restore an acceptable quality of life to the citizens of Rouyn-Noranda…
It was therefore a day of celebrations in Sorel-Tracy, as evidenced by the presence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, who came to confirm a federal contribution of 220 million to the vast project in which Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT) is committed.
The CEO of the multinational Rio Tinto, the Dane Jakob Strausholm, also came for the event, which he described as historic for the Sorel-Tracy processing plant. The CEO had only good words for the team at RTFT’s Technology Center who have managed over the years to get the maximum possible from the ore harvested.
In addition to the 220 million from the federal government, taken from the Strategic Innovation Fund, RTFT will inject 517 million over the next eight years into the decarbonization of its transformation processes and into new productions of critical minerals.
In addition to titanium powder, which is used in particular in the manufacture of paints, the Sorel-Tracy plant manufactures titanium metal – intended for the aeronautics and automobile markets – and steel.
For the past two years, RTFT’s Center for Technology and Critical Minerals has succeeded in producing scandium, a critical ore, from titanium processing residues in a pilot plant. Scandium increases the resistance of certain metals, including aluminum, and is also used in the manufacture of fuel cells.
It is a critical mineral highly coveted by the aerospace and automobile industries because it reduces the weight of their products and increases their mechanical and thermal resistance, Stéphane Leblanc, former executive director of RTFT, who has just just retired.
It should be noted that RTFT is the only scandium producer in America and its pilot plant is capable of producing 3 tons of this critical ore. With the investments announced on Tuesday, the aim is to quadruple production in the coming years.
Pilot plant and lithium
The three-quarters of a billion that will be invested over the next eight years will also make it possible to halve the greenhouse gases generated by RTFT by 2030 and to achieve net zero carbon neutrality by 2050.
As of next year, RTFT will begin producing titanium in a pilot plant where 40,000 tons of ilmenite will be transformed using a new process in which the use of natural gas will be eliminated.
“Once fully operational, the BlueSmelting project will enable us to reduce our CO2 emissions by 670,000 tons.2the equivalent of taking 145,000 cars off the road,” explained Didier Arseguel, Vice-President Technologies at RTFT.
In parallel with these initiatives, RTFT has just put into operation another pilot plant where the research group has been able to develop a new process for concentrating spodumene which offers lithium contents significantly higher than the average. Of the industry.
This new process uses no chemicals and will soon test minerals from local producer Sayona.
It is not for nothing that the CEO of Rio Tinto made the trip from London to Sorel-Tracy on Tuesday. Quebec’s expertise in innovation and greenhouse gas reduction is the group’s largest in the world.
There is the Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium Critical Minerals and Technology Center which offers revolutionary solutions and there is the technology developed by Elysis in Saguenay, a joint venture held by Rio Tinto and Alcoa, which will allow the commercial production of completely green aluminium.
The movement to decarbonize the economy has a long way to go and although its beginnings were slow and chaotic, it is beginning to take off and yield results that allow us to hope to believe in it.