Alcoa Corp, one of the largest aluminium producers in the United States, is close to selling another former smelter site to a Bitcoin (BTC) miner, as dormant industrial assets draw interest from data infrastructure operators.
Alcoa CEO Bill Oplinger told Bloomberg in an interview that the company was nearing an agreement with digital asset firm NYDIG for the Massena East site in upstate New York, with the deal expected to close by mid-year.
The proposed transaction would be another example of closed smelters being repurposed for energy-intensive uses. In February, Century Aluminum sold its Hawesville facility in Kentucky to TeraWulf, a data centres company primarily focused on Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing (HPC) for AI.
Alcoa has been seeking buyers for 10 former smelter sites across the US. Bloomberg said those assets have become more attractive because they often include existing grid connections and significant electricity capacity, making them suitable for data centres.
Massena East, on the St. Lawrence River, has access to hydropower from the New York Power Authority. Alcoa shut the plant in 2014 after it was deemed no longer competitive.