It’s all in its primary production, which brings aluminium to life. After the refining process is complete, the alumina – now a white powder similar in size to sand grains – continues on its journey to smelters to convert it through electrolytic reduction into aluminium.

This is where the magic happens, transforming it into the light, durable, malleable and corrosion-resistant metal that makes aluminium one of the great engineering materials of our time. This is why we find aluminium everywhere: in the homes we live in, in the cars we drive, in the trains and planes that enable mass travel, in the mobile phones that connect us, in the cans we drink from, and in the computers that power business.

From reduction to casting, and from extrusion to the use of energy and water, these pages take you through the smelting process and the facts behind primary production.