California-based Brimstone announced that its deeply decarbonized cement manufacturing process will now also produce smelter grade alumina – marking a major industrial milestone in the United States
The Brimstone plant could represent the first new, domestic source of smelter grade alumina in a generation, entering a market currently led by China.
“Brimstone is working to create the industrial processes of the 21st century, leveraging co-production to unlock the economic value of common, domestically sourced rocks,” said Brimstone co-founder and CEO Cody Finke. “This milestone is a huge win for U.S. manufacturing, as we now can secure the entire alumina supply chain right here in the United States – fortifying the domestic supply of this critical mineral, reducing reliance on imports and bringing jobs back home.”
According to OK Energy Today, Oklahoma-based Dolese Bros. will provide the rock from a southwest Oklahoma site to Brimstone in a move that will have direct implications for national security, domestic supply chains and the economy. The site from which Dolese Bros. will provide the rock, the company’s quarry in Roosevelt, Okla., also involves a planned $400 million demonstration plant. From the rock, the process will extract alumina minerals, which are central to the production of aluminum.
Brimstone was awarded nearly $8.7 million of the total federal cost share of up to $189 million to advance site selection for its $378 million, first-of-a-kind commercial demonstration plant, which will co-produce smelter grade alumina alongside previously announced co-products, portland cement and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The plant will serve as the initial realization of the Brimstone Rock Refinery, the company’s larger vision to refine carbon-free calcium silicate rocks into multiple cost-competitive, deeply decarbonized co-products.
The United States currently has only one operational alumina refinery, which relies on imported sources of unrefined alumina.
Critically, the Brimstone Process entirely avoids the need to import bauxite by producing alumina from rocks abundant in the United States. Given its importance, there is currently a global scramble to secure proven bauxite reserves. Brimstone replaces bauxite with carbon-free calcium silicate rocks, reducing the dependence of the U.S. alumina industry on imported bauxite.
Although the United States was once a leading aluminum producer, its supply chain now relies heavily on imports. China currently accounts for about 60% of global production of both alumina and aluminum, while the United States directly produces less than one-sixth of the aluminum it consumes.
Import reliance puts the U.S. market at significant risk of supply disruptions and price volatility – evident in the record-high prices seen globally throughout 2024. Experts predict the U.S. market will grow from 70,000 tons in 2023 to 90,000 tons by 2050, further increasing these vulnerabilities.
Kevin Kramer, a former top executive at Alcoa and ATI, two leading U.S. industrial companies, and current Brimstone senior advisor, noted, “Aluminum is a linchpin of domestic aerospace, defense and automotive applications, and increasing the domestic supply chain is critical to U.S. economic security. As the number of refineries and smelters declines across the country, establishing a new alumina source stateside is vital – and Brimstone’s 100% U.S.-based solution is exactly what the industry needs.”
Brimstone’s patented process leverages co-production to extract multiple minerals from this single rock – cutting costs, simplifying logistics and reducing waste.
“The Brimstone Rock Refinery has cracked the code to transform the most common and abundant rocks into the critical materials our economy and infrastructure rely on,” said Hugo Leandri, Brimstone co-founder and chief strategy officer. “This breakthrough technology not only reduces costs and environmental impacts but also paves the way for reshoring manufacturing and strengthening domestic supply chain resilience.”
Brimstone will begin pilot operations this year and seeks to have its commercial demonstration plant operating by the end of the decade. The company is currently engaging with potential customers, including testing its deeply decarbonized cement and SCMs.
