British Aluminium

In the late 1880s and early 1890s, innovations in the extraction of alumina from ore (bauxite) and of converting this into aluminium by electrolysis had precipitated a drastic fall in the price of the metal.

The electrolytic process required large amounts of electricity, which could be easily and cheaply provided by hydro-electric power in the Scottish Highlands.

This established source was supplemented by the acquisition of bauxite rights in British Guiana during World War I followed by more in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), in 1928.

In the 1940s and '50s the company opened and/or invested in aluminium plants and infrastructure in Norway, India, Canada, British Guiana and acquired further bauxite resources in Australia.

Despite overcapacity during the 1960s, a large smelter built on the promise of cheap nuclear generated electricity commenced production in Invergordon in 1971; this plant would close eleven years later.