July 9 (Reuters) - Global miner Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX said on Thursday it will wind down operations and eventually close its New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) venture citing non-viability of the business due to high costs and challenging outlook for the aluminium industry.
As a result, NZAS has given New Zealand power producer Meridian Energy MEL.NZ notice to terminate an existing power contract, which will end in August 2021, when the wind-down of operations is expected to complete, the miner said in a statement.
NZAS is New Zealand's largest single power user, and is a joint venture between Rio holding a 79.4% stake and Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd 4005.T holding 20.6%. It employs around 1000 people directly.