New aluminium alloys for die casters

Rio Tinto has presented a new family of unique aluminium alloys designed to entitle North American die-casters to enlarge their use of recycled content in the production of automotive parts, delivering improvements on both environmental footprint and production costs.

The products have been developed at the company’s Arvida Research and Development Center, located within the Jonquiere complex in Quebec, which is also home to the Arvida smelter. Rio believes it will be able to produce up to 100,000 tonnes of the new alloy series per year across its Canadian sites.

The high-quality alloy series from Rio Tinto has been developed for high-pressure vacuum die casters to blend with their scrap and recycled cleaned crushed wheels. As a replacement for buying lower-grade secondary remelt ingots, the final blend will cost less, have a lower carbon footprint and meet rigorous industry standards.

“We have developed this new series of alloys to help die casters not only produce the highest quality automotive parts, but also enhance their competitiveness and contribution to  a more sustainable, circular economy,” Rio Tinto Aluminium vice president of sales and marketing, Tolga Egrilmezer, said in the media brief. “As an alternative to buying lower grade secondary remelt ingots, the final blend will cost less, have lower carbon footprint and meet stringent industry standards.”

The company’s technical marketing specialists will work with consumers to tailor a specific blend of alloy and recycled content to meet their needs.