Alcoa Intalco Works is primary aluminum smelter facility located in Ferndale, Washington. It began operations in 1966 under the ownership of Alumax, Pechiney and Howmet. Today, Alcoa is the sole owner of the plant, which is operating at approximately two-thirds capacity and employs around 640 people.Alcoa has had a presence in Washington for more than 65 years and operates a second smelter on the Columbia River in Malaga - Alcoa Wenatchee Works - which employees around 380 people.

Production

Alcoa Intalco Works produces primary aluminum metal by the Hall-Heroult reduction process. The plant has three operational potlines, with two and a half currently running. The smelter is capable of producing 278,000 metric tons per year (mtpy) at full capacity. Its current capacity is approximately 226,000 mtpy.Aluminum is processed from a raw material called alumina, which is produced from bauxite ore in Australia. One ton of aluminum is smelted from two tons of alumina. That one ton of aluminum is enough to make 60,000 beverage cans or the spaceframes for seven full-size cars. Intalco is a smelter that dissolves the alumina in a cryolite bath inside large, carbon-lined cells called pots. When a powerful electric current is passed through the bath, aluminum metal separates from the chemical solution and is siphoned off. That molten aluminum goes into furnaces for precise mixing with other metals to form various alloys with specific properties designed for particular uses. It is then poured into molds or cast into ingots. This is the finished product, which leaves Intalco primarily by truck. Further fabrication may include casting, rolling, forging, drawing or extruding to make thousands of different finished products from beverage cans to jet aircraft – either by Alcoa or by its customers.