Document 1yda8EDNkXNmZzVgx9gm8xnZm

Jr. G. C. k Pi JiYice \IEWS RELEASE ( ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA _ J 1501 Alcoa Bldg. Pittsburgh 19, Pa. 'or Further Information: Gordon C. Meek ATlantic 1-4545, Ext. 465 For release Wednesday, January 21, 1959, Or anytime thereafter '' POINT COMFORT, TEXAS, Jan. 21, 1959 -- A new source of 1 bauxite for the United States aluminum industry became available today with the delivery of the first shipment of Dominican Republic ore to Aluminum Company of America's new Point Comfort alumina refining plant. The 7,300-ton shipload marks the first time in history that bauxite has been exported from the Dominican Republic, according to A. B. Kaltwasser, works manager at Alcoa's newest and largest refining operation. The plant will extract aluminum oxide from bauxite. The oxide then will undergo an electrolytic reduction process to produce metallic aluminum at Alcoa's Point Comfort and Rockdale, Texas, smelting plants. The bauxite was placed aboard the ore carrier, "Dispatcher," at Cabo Rojo, site of an ore loading station recently completed by Alcoa on the Dominican Republic's southwest coast. The ore was transported by truck to the seacoast loading station from a mining location at Aceitillar, 21 miles inland. (More) APC 005369 2 This ore shipment culminates several years of exploration and development work by Alcoa Exploration Company in the Dominican Republic, at an initial cost of $14-million. Upon its arrival in Texas, the bauxite was unloaded into barges at a temporary ore transfer station at Port Aransas. The transfer station, located 70 miles from the Point Comfort refining plant, is a temporary expediency created by Alcoa to accommodate ore shipments pending completion of the Matagorda Bay Ship Channel, approved by Congress last year. The channel will be constructed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, subject to the appropriation of necessary funds. The ore now is being barged through the Intracoastal Canal and Matagorda Bay to Alcoa's Point Comfort docks. This week's shipment was a successful "test run," Mr. Kaltwasser said, and regular shipments of Dominican bauxite will begin in late February or early March. Last week, the new Point Comfort refining operation received its first shipment of Suriname, South America, bauxite, a different type of ore which it also is equipped to refine. The plant is expected to begin processing bauxite into alumina on February 2. The partially completed facility, now embarking upon "shakedown operations," will have a planned capacity estimated conservatively at 750,000 tons. # # # it it APC 005370