EGA–Century Aluminium US smelter JV: capacity, schedule and risks for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum will build Oklahoma Primary Aluminum, a 750,000‑tonne‑per‑year smelter at Inola that will more than double current US primary aluminium output and be the first new US smelter since 1980. EGA will hold 60% of the joint venture and Century 40%, with construction targeted to start by end‑2026 and first metal by around 2030, creating 4,000 construction and 1,000 permanent jobs. US Aluminum is separately evaluating a co‑located fabrication plant to convert liquid metal into products for electrical, defence, aerospace, automotive and machinery applications.
Technical Brief
- Joint development agreement fixes equity split at 60% EGA and 40% Century Aluminum.
- Century states 1,000 permanent direct jobs at the smelter plus 4,000 during the construction phase.
- U.S. Aluminum has a separate agreement with EGA and Century to assess a co-located fabrication facility.
- Proposed fabrication plant would cast liquid metal directly into products for electrical and defence supply chains.
- Additional target sectors for fabricated output include aerospace, automotive and general machinery manufacturing.
- EGA notes this as its first downstream exploratory agreement signed before a smelter is physically built.
Our Take
Aluminium appears in only a handful of keyword‑matched pieces in our database, so a greenfield primary smelter in Oklahoma stands out against a mining feedstock‑heavy pipeline that is otherwise dominated by iron ore, copper and gold projects.
EGA’s 60% stake in the Oklahoma Primary Aluminum JV signals that US operators such as Century Aluminum are increasingly willing to cede operational control to overseas smelting specialists in exchange for capital and technology, which could reshape how future US base‑metal processing plants are structured.
Newmont’s US$800 million commitment to extend Cerro Negro in Argentina beyond 2035, mentioned alongside this JV, underlines that large miners are still prioritising long‑life gold assets abroad while US‑based downstream metals capacity, such as this smelter, is being rebuilt closer to domestic manufacturing demand.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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