Aughinish closure threat averted as US prepares to lift sanctions

The closure threat facing the Aughinish Alumina plant looks set to be lifted next week as crippling sanctions imposed on its parent company by US authorities are due to be scrapped.

The US Treasury Department is officially set to remove sanctions from its parent company Rusal after an agreement struck in December that involved Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska reducing his control over the company.

However, the risk to Aughinish is not over just ...