Rio Tinto, Torus to receive state incentives for expansion projects

Employees at Torus Inc. work to develop energy storage and management products used in
the residential, commercial and large-scale utility sectors. Torus was one of two companies
that were awarded tax credit incentives at the September meeting of the Governor’s Office of
Economic Opportunity board. The Torus project could lead to 172 new jobs in South Salt Lake.

Brice Wallace
Business Journal

Rio Tinto Group will get a state tax credit as it looks to expand operations at its Bingham Canyon Mine and Torus Inc. will get a credit as it produces energy storage and management products.

The tax credit for Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Utah Copper LLC is for up to about $1 million over five years. South Salt Lake-based Torus could get a credit of about $1.9 million over 10 years. The two companies were awarded the incentives from the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity board at the board’s September meeting.

The Rio Tinto incentive is tied to the creation of seven high-paying jobs in a $201 million project to pull certain minerals from its mining operation waste stream. Those minerals — gallium, geranium and indium — are deemed critical by the U.S. government for the high-tech industry, specifically in the production of semiconductor chips.

For over 120 years, Rio Tinto Kennecott has been mining and processing copper and other minerals, including gold, silver, molybdenum and tellurium from the Bingham Canyon Mine. The company also possesses at other facilities in South Jordan. The tellurium production began in May 2022, after a solar panel producer needed it for its operations.

Now that Kennecott is making a copper telluride product, Rio Tinto is investigating recovery of those other critical minerals. A representative of the company told the board that having state support for the project is needed as the company looks to capitalize on funding available from the federal Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act. Passed in 2022, the act aims to lure microchip manufacturing back to the United States after several decades of individual companies offshoring the work.

The Rio Tinto project is expected to generate new total wages of nearly $4.9 million over five years, with the new jobs paying an average of $205,000. New state tax revenue is estimated at more than $6.8 million over five years.

Rio Tinto operates in 35 countries and has 57,000 employees. The company website indicates it has 2,411 employees at its Kennecott operations.

“We all know Rio Tinto,” Daniel Royal, GOEO business development director, told the board. “They’ve been in Utah for many, many, many years. A great employer, a great contributor to the local economy, especially in one of our traditional sectors, in mining.”

The $10 million Torus project is expected to create up to 172 jobs over 10 years at its South Salt Lake manufacturing facility.

Torus designs, engineers, and manufactures energy storage and management products for the residential, commercial and large-scale utility sectors. CEO Nate Walkingshaw told the board that the technology “empowers individuals and communities to become their own renewable energy provider.”

The Wasatch Front, he said, needs an additional 8 gigawatts of additional energy generation and storage in order to meet demand, and Torus can address about 1 gigawatt of that need. “And that’s just for our state. So it’s a true problem that we’re faced with, and I think [ours is] a really meaningful solution,” Walkingshaw said.

“If you look at energy demand over the last 100 years, it grew 100X, and the next 100 years, it will grow at 1,000X,” he said. “But the majority of that growth is actually going to happen within the first 30 years, and that’s because of electric vehicles, electrification of HVAC and the advent of AI. So, machine learning is going to require a lot of power if we’re going to be able to do it.”

The Torus project is expected to generate new total wages of $169.3 million over 10 years, with the new jobs paying an average of $122,933. New state tax revenue from the project is estimated at nearly $6.5 million over 10 years.

South Salt Lake Mayor Cherie Wood described Torus as “a great partner,” as the company has gotten involved in the community by donating STEM learning kits for its youth programs. “They’ve just been a great community partner,” she told the board.

“Utah’s investment in manufacturing and infrastructure is strengthening its position as a national leader in economic development and industrial innovation,” Ryan Starks, GOEO executive director, said in a prepared statement. “Torus is paving the way for industrial advancement with innovative solutions that will boost Utah’s economic footprint, and build a sustainable foundation for future growth.”

GOEO does not provide upfront cash incentives. Each year that an incentivized company meets the obligations in its contract with the state, it will qualify to receive a portion of the new, additional state taxes the company paid to the state.