Alcoa/WMC unit acquires Caribbean alumina refinery.PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25, 1995--Alcoa Alumina alumina (əl  `mĭnə) or aluminum oxide, Al2O3, chemical compound with m.p. about 2,000°C; and sp. gr. about 4.0. & Chemicals, L.L.C., (Alcoa) owned by Alcoa (60 percent) and Western Mining Corporation (40 percent), has acquired substantially all of the assets of the Virgin Islands Alumina Corporation (Vialco), a subsidiary of Glencore International AG. The assets consist of the alumina refinery located on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The refinery has an operating capacity of 600,000 metric tonnes per year and has been idled since late 1994 due to economic conditions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed Alcoa has formed a new subsidiary, St. Croix Alumina, L.L.C., to own the refinery. Roger Vines, president of the Alcoa Bauxite bauxite (bôk`sīt, bŏk`–), mixture of hydrated aluminum oxides usually containing oxides of iron and silicon in varying quantities. & Alumina Division, said, ``We have been impressed by the condition of the plant and the skills of the employees maintaining the plant while it has been idled. I am optimistic that market conditions will allow us to restart the facility sometime in the next twenty-four months.'' Mr. Vines added, ``I am pleased to have had a successful meeting with Virgin Islands Governor Roy L. Schneider Roy Schneider was the 25th governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was succeeded by Charles Wesley Turnbull. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans. who expressed his pleasure in welcoming Alcoa as a new corporate citizen of the Virgin Islands. Governor Schneider pledged the cooperation of his administration in working with St. Croix Alumina to make Alcoa's entry into St. Croix's economy a success.'' Alumina, or aluminum oxide aluminum oxide: see alumina. , is a white powder refined from bauxite and other aluminous a·lu·mi·nous adj. Of, relating to, or containing aluminum or alum. Adj. 1. aluminous - pertaining to or containing aluminum or alum ores. It is the feedstock for the aluminum smelting smelting, in metallurgy, any process of melting or fusion, especially to extract a metal from its ore. Smelting processes vary in detail depending on the nature of the ore and the metal involved, but they are typified in the use of the blast furnace. process. It is also used to make a family of highly versatile chemicals used in an array of industrial products. CONTACT: Alcoa, Pittsburgh A. T. Posti, 412/553-4465 |
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