The first earth moving equipment came on site at Grundartangi in Iceland in early April 1997. Only 14 months later, in June 1998, the first pot was successfully started up. Initially the smelter had a production capacity of 60,000-ton per year and in the summer of 2001 it was increased to 90,000-ton per year. Now work has been started on increasing the production capacity to 180.000-ton per year in 2006.
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Each pot produces up to 1.4 tons of metal per day. The pots are tapped every day and the 960 °C hot metal is transported in crucibles with 8 ton capacity to the metal casting house. There the metal is collected in a 60 ton capacity furnaces. After the metal has reached the optimal temperature for casting the furnace is opened and the metal flows into the casting molds and solidifies as 22 kg aluminum ingots.