Emirates Aluminium (Emal) marked a major milestone in the construction of its $4.6 billion Phase II smelter expansion – the pouring of the first potroom concrete of what will be the world’s longest potline when complete in 2014.

The pouring was conducted by Emal and its contractors - AF Carillion, and SNC Lavalin II - in the presence of EMAL senior executives.

Phase II will add 444 reduction cells using the cutting-edge DX+ reduction cell technology. Phase II implementation will boost production to approximately 1.3 million metric tonnes by 2014 and will establish Emal as one of the largest single-site smelters in the world.

Yousuf Bastaki, Emal’s VP Projects, said: “This important milestone has been completed on-schedule and on-budget, and demonstrates the hard work and strong capabilities of Emal and its partners in executing a major expansion with all its attendant challenges.” – TradeArabia News Service