The operations consist of a port, a mine and a 50km rail system to the port. Initial output at the mine will be 2.6Mt/y.
Bauxite from Juruti will be shipped to the Alumar alumina refinery in Sao Luis, Brazil which is undergoing a 2.1Mt/y expansion that will bring total production to 3.5Mt/y. Following the expansion, Alcoa Aluminio and AWAC will have a combined hold of 54% in the refinery. The remaining share is held by BHP Billiton (36%) and Rio Tinto Alcan (10%). The Alcoa share of the combined investment for the two Brazil initiatives is approximately $2.2bn
The refinery expansion will be completed by the end of the year.
The Juruti Project will mine – and re-vegetate – a total of 6000 hectares over 40-60 years. Alcoa has already been working with re-forestation experts to ensure that the mined-out areas will be totally re-vegetated with native species. For every Brazil nut tree removed during the mining process, Alcoa will replant 10 trees. And for every other species of tree impacted during the process, Alcoa will replant two trees for each tree removed. Alcoa estimates it will plant 15 million trees over the next 50 years in the Juruti region.