A deal has been reached that means the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will remain open for another three years.
It was announed in July last year that Rio Tinto, which owns the mine, was winding down operations at the plant in Bluff.
But today Meridian Energy says Rio Tinto has accepted a new contract that means the smelter will remain open until the end of December 2023.
The plant employs about one thousand people directly, and a further 16 hundred through contracting and services needed to keep the plant running.
Emile Donovan speaks to Tiwai Point chief executive Stew Hamilton.
Photo: Graham Dainty 2012
