MAL Hungarian Aluminium
MAL Magyar Alumínium Termelő és Kereskedelmi Zrt., known in English as MAL Hungarian Aluminium, is a Hungarian company specializing in the production of aluminium and related products. It was established in 1995 on the privatization of the Hungarian aluminium industry.
MAL's initial assets were a bauxite mine in the Balkany, an alumina factory in Ajka and an aluminium smelter in Inota (municipality of Várpalota), all of them in Veszprém County northwestern Hungary.[1] The company set up subsidiaries in Germany and Romania, and acquired majority holdings in the Slovenian company SILKEM, producing zeolites and ground alumina, and the Bosnian company Rudnici Boksita Jajce, which operates a high-grade bauxite mine.[1] The smelting facilities at Inota were converted into a recycling operation in 2006, and sold off as INOTAL Aluminium Processing Zrt. in 2007.[1]
On 4 October 2010, a retaining dam failed on one of the red mud ponds at the company's Ajka alumina factory, spilling 600,000–700,000 cubic metres of corrosive red mud. At least seven people died, and about 150 people were injured, in the nearby settlements of Kolontár and Devecser.[2][3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 History; MAL Hungarian Aluminium, <http://english.mal.hu/engine.aspx?page=bemutatkozunk>. (accessed 9 October 2010).
- ↑ Toxic sludge fails to damage Danube. The Guardian 8 October 2010, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/08/toxic-sludge-fails-damage-danube>.
- ↑ Hungary fears second toxic wave; BBC News, 9 October 2010, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11506713>.
