ATLANTA — A $340-million copper smelting and recycling plan is coming to Augusta.
Germany-based Aurubis, one of the world’s largest recyclers of copper and precious metals in the world, is building a 150-acre metal recycling plant in Augusta Corporate Park. The plant is expected to open in 2023, with hiring to begin next summer.
The company said the new facility will be the first of its kind in the U.S., and will create 125 jobs in the Augusta area.
Aurubis company processes complex metal concentrates, scrap metals, organic and inorganic metal-bearing recycling materials, and industrial residues into high-quality metals.
It produces more than 1 million tons of copper cathodes annually, and from them, makes a variety of products such as wire rod, continuous cast shapes, profiles, and flat rolled products made of copper and copper alloys.
“Aurubis will now join more than 500 German companies with operations in Georgia, and this project underscores the strengths of our exceptional state and local economic development teams,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday.
From Augusta, the company plans to produce materials found in lithium-ion batteries and other electronics.
“With this investment, we are setting a clear example of sustainable growth and will become a forerunner for multi-metal recycling in the U.S. as well – a role that we already have in Europe now,” said Roland Harings, CEO of Aurubis AG.
“The Georgia Ports Authority is happy to play a role in bringing jobs and investment to Georgia,” GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch added. “Exports produced by the Aurubis recycling operation will strengthen the state’s global position via Savannah – already one of the nation’s most balanced ports in terms of import-export trade.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.