Basil Walker said the main issue facing the smelter was the high transmission costs it faced. In 2017 he put the idea to Rio Tinto and ‘’they never said go away’’. ‘’They referred me back to their Auckland solicitor and he said to only contact Rio Tinto through his office.’’A Rio Tinto spokeswoman, when asked to respond to Walker’s proposal, said the company would not be commenting. Walker said Rio Tinto would need to pay hundreds of millions to tear down the smelter site and remediate it after stopping production. ‘’If Rio Tinto want to walk away, there is a solution without them spending all that money to knock it down.

Source: Stuff July 29, 2020 05:37 UTC