Located on the Chemin du Roy, some 60 kilometers from Quebec City, the village of Deschambault-Grondines overlooks the St. Lawrence River. In 1989, the Alumax Group took on the daunting challenge of building the Deschambault Smelter in an area whose fragility and value made environmental performance a top priority. In operation since 1992, the smelter reached its full capacity in 1993 with an annual production of 215,000 metric tons of aluminum. Alcoa acquired the Deschambault Smelter in 1998. Over the years, thanks to continuous improvements in equipment, processes and work methods, production capacity has climbed to 265,000 metric tons.
The Deschambault Smelter’s technical performance is an international benchmark. The smelter was the first aluminum producer in Québec to achieve ISO 9002 certification in 1996, and the first in Canada to obtain ISO 14001 certification, back in 1997. The smelter’s environmental performance has earned it, among other distinctions, the ICI ON RECYCLE! designation from RECYC-QUÉBEC (Performance level). It is also an Elite member of Hydro-Québec’s Écolectrique network and received an Énergia award from the Association québécoise pour la maîtrise de l’énergie. The Comité sectoriel de main-d’œuvre de la métallurgie du Québec (CSMO) awarded the smelter its Prix Hélène-Vandal 2010 in recognition of its initiatives to facilitate access to the sector for women. Significant effort is put into to training, work organization, process optimization and teamwork.
Start-up: 1992
Construction cost: $1 billion
Production: T-ingots
Production capacity: 265,000 MT / year
Port facilities: Trois-Rivières
Certifications: ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004
Economic spin-offs for Québec: $309 million invested in salaries, taxes and goods and services, including $111 million in local purchases
