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Germany’s largest investor in Georgia is now melting down (metals), and the process is right on schedule.
A year ago, Aurubis AG officially opened its $800 million smelting facility in Augusta, with Gov. Brian Kemp labeling it “one of my favorite projects” for its strategic and economic value.
On Wednesday, the company invited legislators, industry leaders, local officials and Jens Hanefeld, the German ambassador to the United States, to participate in a “first melt” ceremony, marking the commissioning of a plant that takes scrap material, from copper cable to printed circuit boards, and uses massive furnaces to turn them into blister copper and other precious metals like gold, tin, zinc and nickel.
“It’s a very complex operation with hot temperature and a lot of material flow, combined with a complex off-gas and water cooling system. So all systems had to come together, and it has been achieved over the last month,” Aurubis CEO Toralf Haag told Global Atlanta in an exclusive phone interview before the ceremony.
The process — at what Aurubis calls “the most technologically advanced multimetal recycling center” in the U.S. — is the culmination of more than two years of steady site preparation, from a groundbreaking in 2023 through last year’s ribbon-cutting.
So far, Aurubis has installed only half of its planned capacity: 90,000 tons annually in the first phase, with the expansion to 180,000 starting next year. But it has already created all 240 jobs promised after it announced a doubling of the project’s size in 2022.
It’s unclear how tariffs on finished copper and other inputs might affect costs and profitability for Aurubis. But its output will be sold for the same international market price as mined copper, a fact the company frames as a win for the earth and for U.S. interests.
“It’s right now hard to see how the market dynamics work. The U.S. is a huge market, a growing market, and we produce for the local market, so that’s what we concentrate on,” Dr. Haag said.
The U.S. imports half of the 1.8 million tons of copper it consumes annually, and total consumption is set to rise 30 percent over the next five years, according to Aurubis.
“Demand is further increasing also in the U.S., mainly driven by infrastructure, defense and AI, but also mobility and transport spending. We see that the global demand for copper is expected to double until 2050,” he added.
Ironically, while the need for copper rises, half of the waste material containing the valuable metals is shipped out of the U.S. for recycling. Aurubis has landed long-term agreements with domestic scrap aggregators on the input side; it has similar supply arrangements with its metals “off-takers.”
The circularity of the plant — turning waste into fuel for American factories, and displacing imports — is a source of pride, particularly under a U.S. government that has erected barriers to trade in an effort to drive an American manufacturing renaissance.
Since the investment was annouced, Aurubis has always played up its role in driving U.S. resiliency; at the groundbreaking in September 2024, the backdrop for the stage was a huge American flag.
“Aurubis exemplifies how international partnerships can contribute to solidifying America’s industrial foundation and strengthening our economic independence,” said Rep. Rick Allen, a Republican congressman from Georgia’s 12th district.
With Aurubis Richmond, the Augusta plant named for the Georgia county where it sits, the German firm hopes to set a new standard for environmental responsibility. It has installed scrubbing and combustion technologies that remove pollutants from gas that will come out of the plant’s chimneys.
Wastewater is recovered and reused, and the plant has committed not to discharge any effluent into the surrounding waterways. Its Hamburg facility back home, company officials have said, is located in the middle of an urban area.
Dr. Haag told Global Atlanta that the plant faced few hurdles getting up and running, but not much different than what similar plants have faced in Germany and elsewhere in the world.
David Schultheis, president and managing director of Aurubis Richmond, thanked state leaders for their help in getting to this point: Georgia was named the top state for business by Area Development magazine for the 12th straight year on the same day Aurubis opened the plant.
“I would like to extend my special thanks to the policymakers and governmental authorities in Georgia for the strong support, smooth approval processes, and for enabling us to settle in quickly here,” Mr. Schultheis said in a news release.
Aurubis has other multimetal recycling sites in Spain, Belgium and Germany, with smelters making specific metal products like cathodes and rods in Bulgaria, Finland, Italy and Germany. The company employs 7,100 people globally.
