Baie-Comeau Smelter 

Located on a rocky promontory overlooking the majestic St. Lawrence River, the Baie-Comeau Smelter has been successively owned by the Canadian British Aluminum Company, the Reynolds Metals Company and then finally by Alcoa (since 2000). Built in 1957, it was expanded on four different occasions between 1957 and 1991, in addition to an upgrade of the Söderberg potlines in the early 1980s. In March 2008, a new, $1.2 billion upgrade project was announced. This project will involve the replacement of the Söderberg technology by new prebake cells, and the adoption of a more advanced technology for the existing 480 prebake cells. These upgrades will bring the smelter’s production to 548,000 metric tons.
 
The smelter is Baie-Comeau’s biggest employer and its employees are highly involved in the community. In 2007, the plant received the Dollard-Morin award for its support of volunteerism. It supports a large number of community groups and causes, including the Manicouagan-Uapishka World Biosphere Reserve. The plant was recognized under the St. Lawrence Action Plan for its efforts in industrial wastewater treatment. More recently, it received the Mérite Québecois de la sécurité civile for establishing an emergency readiness training program for all officials and volunteers in the Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. In addition, the plant obtained the ICI ON RECYCLE! designation (Performance level) from RECYC-QUÉBEC.
  
Start-up: December 1957
Construction cost: $1.65 billion
Production: T-ingots, rolling ingots, billets, rod
Production capacity: 400,000 MT / year
Port facilities: Owned by the smelter
Certifications: ISO 9001:2000; ISO 14001:2004; and ISO 17025 (pending)
Economic spin-offs for Québec: $459 million invested in salaries, taxes and goods and services, including $227 million in local purchases