Our Hillside Aluminium smelter in Richards Bay uses alumina imported from our Worsley Alumina operation in Australia to produce high-quality, primary aluminium.
For more than 20 years we have played a key part in South Africa’s aluminium industry.
Our Hillside Aluminium smelter in Richards Bay, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal about 180 kilometres north of Durban, produces high-quality, primary aluminium for export markets.
To support the development of the downstream aluminium industry in South Africa, a portion of liquid metal is supplied to Isizinda Aluminium which in turn supplies aluminium slab to Hulamin, a local company that produces products for the domestic and export markets.
Aluminium is made by crushing and refining bauxite - an aluminium ore - into a white alumina powder then smelting the white alumina powder into aluminium metal.
The smelter uses alumina predominantly imported from Worsley Alumina in Australia to produce high-quality, primary aluminium for the export and domestic markets. Hillside’s capacity of 720 kilotonnes a year makes it the largest producer of primary aluminium in the southern hemisphere.We've teamed up with I Can! to launch a Learnership Academy in Richards Bay to give people with disabilities greater independence and social connection and help them get jobs.
Read moreWe have seen an incredible amount of change in South Africa since we started operating here and we’ve done our best to bring about positive change as well.
We are working hard to make a meaningful contribution to the social and economic development of the country and we are committed to South Africa’s National Transformation Agenda.
We are doing this by:
We are working with the Kwa-Zulu Natal community to improve the wellbeing of local people.
We've partnered with Wildlands Recycling for Life network, to turn waste into school desks.
Read moreWe use responsible sourcing practices in our supply chain, and taking action against modern slavery.
Read moreAt our Hillside operation in South Africa we have provided financial education to 440 of our people.
Read moreGet in touch with Hillside Aluminium
Calvin has been working at our operations for over 10 years. He has held various leadership roles at Aluminium South Africa and Wessels Manganese Mine across maintenance, engineering and process governance and improvement. Prior to his current role, Calvin held maintenance and engineering positions in Rio Tinto, Coca-Cola Sabco and Tongaat Hulett before joining South32 in 2007.
Craig Ullbricht, Corporate Affairs
Hillside Aluminium