NEW YORK (AP) -- Mining company Rio Tinto said Thursday that it will invest an additional $2.7 billion to modernize and expand an aluminum smelter in western Canada.
The $3.3 billion project at the smelter in Kitimat, British Columbia, will be completed in 2014 and will boost capacity by 48 percent, to 420,000 tons per year, the company said.
The company said the changes will boost the plant to the top one-fourth in costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions by about half.
Rio Tinto has about 13,400 employees in Canada, where it operates mining and manufacturing facilities.
Shares of Rio Tinto PLC, part of UK-based Rio Tinto Group, fell 91 cents to close at $52.16.
