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Alcoa Corp. is successful precocious talks to merchantability its idled Massena East aluminum smelter tract successful upstate New York to NYDIG, the bitcoin mining and integer plus infrastructure firm, according to Bloomberg.
Key Takeaways:
- According to a caller report, Alcoa is successful precocious talks to merchantability its Massena East smelter tract to NYDIG, with a woody expected to adjacent by mid-2026.
- The 435 MW New York installation already hosts ~54,000 bitcoin miners and NYDIG took a stake successful Coinmint determination successful October 2024.
- NYDIG’s acquisition follows its March 2025 statement to bargain Crusoe Energy’s bitcoin mining business, adding implicit 270 MW of capacity.
NYDIG Eyes Full Control of Massena Bitcoin Mining Campus
The woody would transportation afloat ownership of the astir 435 MW hydropower-connected field on the St. Lawrence River to NYDIG, which already holds a strategical stake successful the site’s existing bitcoin mining operation. Alcoa CEO Bill Oplinger confirmed successful an April 17, 2026, interrogation that Alcoa is successful advanced-stage negotiations, according to a study published by Jacob Lorinc of Bloomberg.
Oplinger said the institution expects the transaction to adjacent astir the mediate of the year. The Massena East installation has operated arsenic a bitcoin mining field since 2018, erstwhile Alcoa signed a 10-year lease with Coinmint, which aboriginal rebranded its section operations arsenic North Country Colocation Services. NYDIG invested successful Coinmint successful October 2024, giving it the quality to deploy its ain mining rigs astatine the site.
The field reportedly draws astir 166 MW of its approved 435 MW capableness and houses astir 54,000 bitcoin mining units crossed six erstwhile aluminum smelting lines. Several third-party clients, including Cleanspark, Gryphon, and Bit Digital, person since exited the site.
Alcoa has not disclosed fiscal terms. During its Q1 2026 net telephone connected April 16, Oplinger described the prospective purchaser arsenic a anterior spouse astatine the tract moving connected a information halfway project, accordant with Bloomberg’s recognition of NYDIG arsenic the buyer.
The Massena East tract draws powerfulness from the New York Power Authority via the Moses-Saunders hydroelectric dam connected the St. Lawrence River. Bitcoin miners and information halfway operators person targeted erstwhile aluminum smelters due to the fact that the facilities were built for continuous, high-voltage concern loads, leaving down dedicated substations and transmission lines that bypass years of caller grid interconnection timelines.
Alcoa originally idled Massena East successful 2014, citing precocious vigor costs and planetary competition. The spot spans astir 1,300 acres and includes the afloat electrical infrastructure built for industrial-scale aluminum production.
The merchantability is portion of Alcoa’s program to divest astir 10 dormant U.S. smelter sites. Oplinger said the institution has been offering these properties to information halfway developers and crypto miners seeking large, pre-wired concern footprints with utility-scale grid access.
NYDIG has moved steadily to grow its carnal bitcoin mining capacity. In March 2025, the steadfast reached an statement to get Crusoe Energy’s bitcoin mining business, which carried much than 270 MW of operating capacity. Combined with different North American mining assets acquired successful 2024, the Massena East acquisition would springiness NYDIG nonstop ownership of a tract it has been operating astatine for implicit a year.
Alcoa reported beardown first-quarter 2026 net alongside the woody news, posting nett income of $425 cardinal and adjusted EBITDA of $595 million, driven by aluminum prices.
The existing mining cognition astatine Massena employs astir 85 full-time workers crossed Massena and Plattsburgh. Expansion nether NYDIG’s ownership is expected to turn that workforce, with the Town of Massena having already updated section regulations to accommodate cryptocurrency and information mining operations.
The woody follows a akin determination by Century Aluminum, which sold its Hawesville, Kentucky smelter to Terawulf for astir $200 cardinal successful currency and equity for integer infrastructure use. Repurposing the Massena tract for bitcoin mining avoids caller powerfulness works operation by routing existing hydropower capacity, a item that has drawn involvement from ESG-focused operators looking to tally carbon-free integer infrastructure.
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