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Ground was broken at a ceremony marking the beginning of construction for a new aluminium smelter at Helguvik cove in southwest Iceland on Saturday.

Ten dignitaries and special guests armed with spades took part in the ground breaking ceremony, marking the beginning of Iceland’s fourth aluminium smelter. The smelter will be run by Nordural, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US giant, Century Aluminum.

The building commences without Nordural having obtained a licence for the operation of a smelter at Helguvik, or the relevant permits to emit large amounts of greenhouse gases. Opponents of the scheme say the building work is therefore illegal, and being undertaken in the hope that obtaining permission and permits will be easier if the plant is already under construction.

With just two smelters operational in 2003, Iceland already had the world’s highest aluminium production per capita of the population (260,000 tonnes and 300,000 people). Alcoa, Alcan and Nordural currently operate one smelter each. If current plans all come to fruition, the country will increase production to over 1.5 million tonnes per year.

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