Our History in BC
Rio Tinto Alcan’s B.C. operations were built between 1950 and 1954 on the basis of an initial investment of $500 million – about $3.5 billion in today’s dollars – and represented the largest single project ever undertaken by the Canadian private sector to that date.
In addition to all of the industrial components, the project included construction of the two communities that would be home to Alcan’s workforce: Kitimat, a model of urban planning at the time; and the village of Kemano, decommissioned in 2000 but once home to power station workers and their families.
Unique Potential
The project had to be built within a sparsely populated region accessible then only by air and sea, and featuring some of the most challenging terrain on earth.
Survey work – first undertaken by the province in the 1920s – had convincingly demonstrated northwestern B.C.’s unique potential as an important production site within the burgeoning aluminum industry. Alcan, then the Aluminum Company of Canada, committed resources and expertise that proved sufficient to complete the project within a mere five years.
Some 35,000 construction workers were part of this achievement. Many elements of the project, given the scales and settings, were widely considered engineering marvels at the time – and would be even today. The speed and efficiency with which the project was built set new records.
Rapid Progress
Construction began in 1951, and the reservoir was already filling by the fall of 1952. Drilling crews working from opposite sides met in the middle of Mount Dubose at the end of 1953, thus completing the power tunnel. By the summer of 1954, power generation was underway and, that August, HRH Prince Philip was on site to preside over the ceremonial pour of the first Kitimat-produced aluminum.
Smelter production capacity was more than doubled over the first few years of operation, as a multi-ethnic workforce put down increasingly deep roots within northwestern B.C.
Today, Rio Tinto Alcan’s B.C. operations remain a defining feature of the northern B.C. landscape and economy, and an important player within the global aluminum industry.
First Nations
Long before Rio Tinto Alcan arrived in northern B.C., the area was home to many First Nations or aboriginal groups. This included the Haisla First Nation, whose main community today is Kitamaat Village, located across the Douglas Channel from the Kitimat smelter. The Cheslatta Carrier, Nee Tahi Buhn, and Skin Tyee First Nations, traditional territories and current communities are in the Nechako Watershed region. Rio Tinto Alcan has forged increasingly strong relationships with these First Nations in recent years, often based on formal relationship protocols. There is a particular focus on identifying mutually advantageous economic and capacity-development initiatives. In the case of the Haisla, Rio Tinto Alcan in B.C. has also been able to identify opportunities for land transfers – an important basis for further economic development in Kitamaat Village. More information on specific recent initiatives is available in Rio Tinto Alcan B.C.’s annual performance reports.