Aerial Photograph: Under construction the 80,000 ton capacity alumina storage unit for Anglesey Aluminium

This material is held atArchifau Ynys Môn / Anglesey Archives

Scope and Content

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH: Under construction the 80,000 ton capacity alumina storage unit for Anglesey Aluminium Holyhead reduction plant.

Copyright: R.T.Z. Services Ltd., 6 St. Jame's Square, London.

Administrative / Biographical History

Anglesey Aluminium Metal Ltd., which shut down on 30 September 2009, was a joint venture between the Rio Tinto Group and Kaiser Aluminum. Its aluminium smelter, located on the outskirts of Holyhead, was one of the largest employers in North Wales, with 540 staff members, and began to produce aluminium in 1971. It was built on the Penrhos Estate, 500 acres of which were sold by the Stanley family for the project. Up until its closure it produced up to 142,000 tonnes of aluminium every year and was the biggest single user of electricity (255 MW) in the United Kingdom. Alumina and coke shipped from Jamaica and Australia would berth at the company's private jetty in Holyhead harbour. This jetty is linked by a series of conveyor belts passing through tunnels to the plant. A spur rail link from the main Holyhead to London rail line runs into the plant and was used for both receipt of raw materials and despatch of aluminium.

The plant was powered from the National Grid and received most of its electricity from Wylfa nuclear power station 15 miles away. AA was used as a base load for Wylfa and saved the grid the cost of keeping a power station on standby. The power contract terminated in 2009, and the aluminium smelting operation was shut down as no new contract was negotiated. The company has announced tentative plans for a biomass plant on the site, but smelting operations have been halted and the plant mothballed until 2016.

Access Information

Dim cyfyngiadau/ No Restrictions

Acquisition Information

Adnau preifat / Private deposit

Note

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Other Finding Aids

Mae copiau clawr caled o`r catalogau ar gael yn Archifau Ynys Môn ac yn y Gofrestr Cenedlaethol Archifau. Polisi Archifau Ynys Môn yw catalogio yn iaith y ddogfen./Hard copies of the catalogue are available at Archifau Ynys Môn / Anglesey Archives and the National Register of Archives. It is the policy of Archifau Ynys Môn / Anglesey Archives to catalogue in the language of the document.

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

Cyflwr da /Good condition

Archivist's Note

Compiled by Amanda Sweet for Archifau Ynys Môn / Anglesey Archives

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglesey_Aluminium

Appraisal Information

Mae'r holl gofnodiadau sy'n cydymffurfio â pholisi casglu Swyddfa Gofnodi Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn wedi eu cadw /All records which meet the collection policy of the Anglesey Archives have been retained.

Accruals

Ni ddisgwylir croniadau/Accruals are not expected