California-based cement maker Brimstone plans by 2030 to produce US smelter-grade alumina as part of its decarbonized cement manufacturing process.
Alumina is the core material used to produce aluminum, and the only operational alumina refinery in the US relies on imported sources of unrefined alumina.
Brimstone will produce alumina using carbon-free calcium silicate rocks, reducing the need for imported alumina as well as imported bauxite to use in alumina production.
From January-September, the US imported 989,000 metric tonnes of alumina, including 749,000t from Brazil. In the same period, the US imported 1.6mn t of unrefined bauxite, including 1.3mn t from Jamaica and 232,000t from Turkey, in addition to 272,000t of calcined bauxite.
Brimstone will begin pilot operations in 2025 and seeks to have its commercial demonstration plant operating by 2030. Today, Brimstone received $8.7mn of a total $189mn in federal cost share from the Department of Energy's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to help with site selection and other initial studies.
