Product development

At Rio Tinto, we are proud to be industry leaders in metal powder research and development. For us, product innovation means designing and developing new grades specifically to meet our customers’ requirements.

Our metal powders expertise

Founded in 1967, our Technology and Critical Minerals Centre in Sorel-Tracy, Canada continues to be a stronghold of innovation. Here, our team of technical experts evaluate and modify materials to assist our customers with their formulations.

The strong links between our research staff and operations personnel guarantees the continual improvement of our processes. Whether at the laboratory, the pilot plant, or the production facilities, all research is conducted on site.

Today, Rio Tinto’s Quebec Operations is among the 100 most active Canadian companies in research and development.

Meeting customer needs

We asses our customers’ requirements and optimize our recipes to meet the standards for their manufacturing facilities. Our products are truly fit-for-purpose. We have created new material systems capable of meeting the changing engineering requirements of parts, including:

  • Automotive components such as bearing caps, connecting rods, transmissions, and valve systems

  • Industrial gears and sprockets

  • Heavy agricultural and lawn and garden parts

In addition, Rio Tinto has dedicated resources for the development and commercialization of powders for additive manufacturing. And, we are continually upgrading and fine-tuning processes and products currently on the market.

Future investment

The powder metallurgy industry is a complex and changing environment. Rio Tinto Metal Powders continues to invest in numerous resources to support product innovation.

We have also enlarged the scope of powder metallurgy applications by developing new generations of iron powders for emerging technologies such as:

  • Additive manufacturing (3D-printing)

  • Battery and energy storage applications

  • Electromagnetic applications

  • Soft magnetic composites (SMCs) for electric motors

  • Soil remediation

To support our experts, Rio Tinto Metal Powders has developed R&D alliances with many technical partners in Canada, China, the United States, and Europe that include:

  • Customers

  • Universities

  • Research institutes

These partnerships cover a wide variety of projects on powder processing, product characterisation, and new applications.