The Government has announced a resolution to speed up the removal from Mataura of ouvea premix, an aluminum dross by-product stored in an old paper mill.
Kavinda Herath / Stuff
Sort out the Dross spokesperson and Mataura resident Laurel Turnbull is delighted to hear an agreement has been reached to remove the ouvea premix being stored in the town s former paper mill building.
Tonnes of a hazardous substance sitting in a Mataura warehouse will be moved to the New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Limited (NZAS) site at Tiwai Point where it will be stored in containers. The news has been welcomed by Mataura resident Laurel Turnbull, who has been fighting for the removal of the ouvea premix since 2014.
Kavinda Herath/Stuff
Sort out the Dross spokesperson and Mataura resident Laurel Turnbull is delighted to hear an agreement has been reached to remove the ouvea premix being stored in the town s former paper mill building.
By Reuters Staff
(Adds comment from NZ finance minister, share price)
Jan 14 (Reuters) - Global miner Rio Tinto said on Thursday it had reached an agreement with electricity provider Meridian Energy to allow its aluminium smelter in New Zealand to continue operations until December 2024.
Rio Tinto had said in July that it would close New Zealand’s Aluminium Smelter (NZAS), which is the country’s single largest power user, due to high costs and a challenging market. The move would put over a thousand jobs on the line and dealing a blow to the country’s top power producers.
The decision to close the smelter had disappointed politicians and local power firms as it came when the COVID-19 pandemic began to cripple the economy.