Rio Tinto and Aymium to establish biocarbon joint venture in Québec
Torys acted as counsel to Aymium with a team that included Guillaume Lavoie, Peter Danner and Collin Intrater (corporate/commercial), Craig Maurice and Steve Marshall (tax).
On July 25, 2024, Rio Tinto Group (“Rio Tinto”) and Aymium, LLC (“Aymium”) announced the formation of Évolys Québec Inc. (“Évolys”), a new joint venture established to manufacture a renewable metallurgical biocarbon product to reduce carbon emissions in large scale industrial processes. The biocarbon, sourced from biomass residues, offers an alternative for anthracite currently used in ilmenite smelting processes at Rio Tinto’s metallurgical complex in Sorel-Tracy.
Rio Tinto and Aymium were jointly selected by the Government of Québec to revitalize the site of a former pulp and paper mill in Thurso, Québec, where Évolys will be established. The proposed facility will use Aymium’s proprietary technology to locally produce high-quality biocarbon – a raw material in high demand, essential to fulfilling Rio Tinto’s commitments to decarbonization. Rio Tinto has already observed promising results with this technology through the use of materials produced by Aymium at its metallurgical complex in Sorel-Tracy.
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Aymium produces high-value biocarbon and biohydrogen products that can be used to immediately replace fossil fuels in the production of metals, energy, crops, and in the purification of water and air with no modifications to equipment or processes.
Rio Tinto is a leading global mining group that focuses on finding, mining and processing the Earth's mineral resources.