ST Alpha - "requires a LOT of energy to process, Kaiser Alum closed during the energy crises, not because it cost so much, but they bought futures so cheap they " (Reading a Post)

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In response to "it just seems foolish to have ever thought aluminium would stay that valuable. Al2O3 is like 15% of the crust," by mafic

requires a LOT of energy to process, Kaiser Alum closed during the energy crises, not because it cost so much, but they bought futures so cheap they

Posted by zeitgeist Aug 23 '11, 23:04

made more money laying everybody off and selling the power back. I heard they were shipping hte ore to iceland where they have a lot of cheap geothermal available.

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yeah, but that's a tech problem, not (Al) scarcity. the chief driver in locating smelters is finding cheap power. - mafic Aug 23, 23:11 6
- The NZ one has a almost dedicated hydro plant about 100km from the plant -- nm - Karl_S Aug 24, 00:07 4
  - and the plant is only as big as it is because of the smelter. joint development, synergies, economies of scale, yadda yadda. - mafic Aug 24, 00:45 3
    - they increased the capacity about 6 years ago by about 20%, by building an extra tailrace -- nm - Karl_S Aug 24, 03:19 2
      - other link -- (link) - Karl_S Aug 24, 04:15
      - links with info -- (link) - Karl_S Aug 24, 04:14
- is demand way down with the rest of the economy? -- nm - zeitgeist Aug 23, 23:46

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requires a LOT of energy to process, Kaiser Alum closed during the energy crises, not because it cost so much, but they bought futures so cheap they

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