Welcome to the Lochaber Smelter

The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon and Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing with our Executive Chairman, Sanjeev Gupta at the Lochaber Smelter Inauguration Dec 2016.

Located in Highlands of Scotland, the Lochaber Aluminium Smelter is Britain’s last such plant and is now operated by the multi-national GFG Alliance.

Opened in 1929, this was the third aluminium smelter established in the Highlands of Scotland by the British Aluminium Company Ltd, the first being at Foyers (1896) and the second at Kinlochleven (1907). Such is the electricity requirement that economics favours the location of smelters in areas where power can be produced cheaply, rather than proximity to the source of aluminium ore.

In 1982, British Aluminium merged with Alcan UK, a division of the Canadian multi-national Alcan Inc. This was followed by a takeover from the Canadian subsidiary of Rio Tinto, to form Rio Tinto Alcan Inc.

In December 2016 the plant was sold to the GFG Alliance for £330 million and it remains a major employer in the area, with 175 staff producing 40,000 tonnes of aluminium annually.

Brief HistoryIn 1808 Sir Humphrey Davy discovered Aluminium.

In 1886 Hall & Heroult invented the modern electrolytic cell

Foyers was the first Aluminium Smelter in the UK it opened in 1896 and was in pro-duction for 70 years.

Kinlochleven Smelter Opened in 1907 and closed in 2000 and now runs as a Power Station.

Lochaber smelter opened in 1929 and has been an influential member of the surrounding community ever since.

Lochaber Smelter is now the only Aluminium Smelter still operating in the UK.

Lochaber Aluminium Smelter

Introduction to Aluminium

The Alumina used at Lochaber

Smelter is processed at Aughinish in Ireland.

It is then transported to the port of Blyth by ship, where it

is loaded onto trains and delivered to Lochaber by rail.

Aluminium is the third most common element in the earth’s crust. However, it is never found in nature as a metal. It is mined a Bauxite

Alumina (Al2O3) is extracted from Bauxite by means of a chemical, precipitation and calcination process known as the Bayer Process.

Lochaber Smelter is Hydro Powered which allows us to be a lower cost smelter. The Hydropower Plant at the Smelter captures the energy of falling water to generate electricity.

Lochaber Power Station used DC generators up until 2011. The DC generators used Pelton Wheel turbines to convert the kinetic energy of falling water into mechanical energy. Lester Allan Pelton, carpenter and mill wright, invented the Pelton Wheel in 1879 while working in California.

Lochaber’s new AC generators are 3 phase synchronous machines which use a Francis Turbine as opposed to a pelton bucket/wheel system to turn the kinetic energy of water into mechanical energy.

Hydro Electric Generation

Lochaber Power Station houses five 20MVA Generators giving an installed capacity of 100MVA making it one of the biggest continuous Hydro Power Stations in Britain. Each generator rotates at 600 revolutions per minute (RPM) and will annually generate on average 14MW of power at 11,000 Volts.

Pelton wheel hydro-electric turbine. Retired from service and now displayed as public sculpture at an old power station site, Barcelona

Maximum Running Condition - Hydro Water Scheme

Loch Treig, which you can see from the West Highland railway line, north and east of Spean Bridge, is the main source of water.

Water is taken from the loch along a 24km (15 miles) long tunnel, which is 4.5m (14.76 feet) in diameter. The familiar pipes descending from the shoulder of Ben Nevis are the last section of the waterway.

This produces a large volume and power of water, and gravity drives it into the AC generators.

Lochaber Water Catchment

Aluminium is produced from alumina by an electrolytic process. The cell consists of an Anode (+ve) and a Cathode (-ve). A Direct Current is passed through the cell containing Alumina dissolved in Cryolite.

The Electrolytic Process

Molten aluminium is deposited on the cathode. Every 36 hours molten metal is tapped from each cell.

There are 2 Potrooms each approx 300 metres long containing 40 cells.

Ingot ProductionLiquid metal is transferred from the Potrooms to two holding furnaces in the Cast Shop where alloying additions are made to the metal. The ingots contain 99.5% aluminium the rest is a combination of 16 different metals to make up the 0.5%.

The metal is cast into sheet ingot weighing 7 - 13 tonnes. Ingots are dispatched by road to the customer. They then process it at a rolling mill where it’s rolled to 2mm thickness.

Lochaber’s customers use the aluminium to produce lithographic printing plates.

Each Year the smelter produces Approx. 45,000 tonnes of commercially pure sheet ingot.

If you’re looking for adventure, genuinely interesting work, and fantastic career opportunities, then the Lochaber Smelter is for you.

We are a global leader in the commodities, metals and engineering sector, with over 4,000 employees operating across five continents and in more than 30 countries.

Graduate ProgrammeThe Graduate Development Programme is designed as a learning journey, a journey that will take graduates through a variety of activities such as webinars, self- paced courses, a business game simulation and an idea generation game.

The graduate programme allows individuals to work at various locations around the globe.

Career OpportunitiesApprenticeships at Lochaber

Lochaber Smelter has various departments including Operations, Health, Safety & Environment, HR, Engineering, and Maintenance & Finance.

At Lochaber we recognise the value of growing our own talent within the Smelter which is why we offer a variety of apprenticeships. We currently have apprentices working in Engineering, Chemistry (Lab) and Finance.

To enquire about career opportunities in Lochaber, contact the site HR department at danielle.mactavish@lochabersmelter.com

Liberty British AluminiumLochaber SmelterInverness-shireFort WilliamPH33 6THUnited Kingdom

T +44 (0) 1397 902233F +44 (0) 1397 902200www.libertyhousegroup.com

Simec Lochaber PowerLochaber SmelterInverness-shireFort WilliamPH33 6THUnited Kingdom

T +44 (0) 1397 902233F +44 (0) 1397 902200www.simec.com

GFG Alliance7 Hertford StreetMayfairLondonW1J 7RHUnited Kingdom

T +44 (0) 203 205 8550F +44 (0) 203 205 8599www.gfgalliance.com

Members of the GFG Alliance