RIO Rio Tinto Plc

LONDON--Mining titan Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) said Wednesday that it is preparing to ship the first aluminum produced at its Kitimat smelter in Canada following the facility's extensive modernization.

The modernization program, which was delivered in line with a revised schedule and budget, has increased the smelter's production capacity by 48% to 420,000 metric tons of aluminum, and transformed it into one of the lowest cost smelters in world from one of the most expensive.

Kitimat is powered by a hydropower facility that is wholly owned by Rio Tinto and uses the company's proprietary AP40 smelting technology, which effectively halves the smelter's overall emissions.

Rio Tinto sells aluminum produced by the facility in the Asia-Pacific region and North America.

Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires