NORANDA EXPANSION UNDER WAY

NEW MADRID -- A two-year, $65 million expansion and improvement program to increase aluminum production is under way at the Noranda Aluminum Inc. plant in St. Jude Industrial Park.

The project will modernize the carbon anode production facilities at the plant and will increase Noranda's aluminum production capacity by about 15 percent, or more than 70 million pounds a year.

That would increase aluminum production to more than 550 million pounds a year. The increased production will increase electrical energy usage to almost 4 billion kilowatt hours per year.

"This is a tremendous commitment by this company," said Steve Heddle, president of the Noranda plant. He said that with the $65 million project, a long-term power agreement with Associated Electric Co-op and a five-year agreement with the U.S. Steelworkers of America, the future looks good for Noranda.

Noranda officials, including Heddle and Dave Goldman, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Noranda Inc. of Toronto, Canada, gathered at the plant Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony.

Also on hand were Elzie Borders, president of Noranda Aluminum Inc. of Franklin, Tenn., and Glen Medlin, major projects director at the New Madrid plant.

Tours of the plant were given.

The project will involve a conversion to new single-piece technology and provide more amperage to the plant's three potlines while lowering emissions from the plant's oldest anode baking furnace.

The plant employs 1,180 people from Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. It has the capacity to produce 485 million pounds of aluminum a year.

The latest improvements are the first since the addition of a $240 million pot line in 1983.

Noranda opened at New Madrid in 1971 with one potline. A second line was added in summer 1977 and a third line in 1983.

Noranda obtains power from two steam generating plants in St. Jude Industrial Park.

One generation plant is operated by Associated Electric Cop-op and the other by New Madrid.