Climate activists say target Rio Australia smelter

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Climate-change protestors have targeted an Australian aluminum smelter owned by Rio Tinto on Tuesday, chaining themselves together to block trucks, a spokesman for activist group Rising Tide said. Three activists were inside the Tomago Aluminum smelter near Newcastle city, north of Sydney, spokesman Steven Phillips said. He said the protest aimed to highlight the heavy pollution produced by aluminum smelters and to express anger that the smelter would get some 90 percent of its pollution permits for free under the government's plans to cut carbon emissions. A person answering the phone at Tomago Aluminum declined to confirm whether there was a protest at the site. A spokeswoman for Rio Tinto Alcan, the group's aluminum division, did not have any details to hand. The smelter is 51.55 percent owned by Rio Tinto Alcan, and makes aluminum ingots, extrusion billet and rolling slabs mostly for export to Asia. Tomago Aluminum generates more than A$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) a year in revenue, its Website says. Rising Tide's Website says the group is a grassroots Newcastle group taking action against man-made climate change and is part of the global Rising Tide "climate justice" movement. ($1=1.274 Australian Dollar)