BELL Bay Aluminium on Sunday held an open day to celebrate 60 years of smelting in the Tamar Valley.
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General manager Ray Mostogl, of Dilston, said he had been overwhelmed by the public response.
‘‘We welcomed over 400 visitors in the four-hour open day and ran 10 bus tours of the site, with 24 people on each bus,’’ he said.
‘‘The interest was so great, the buses had been booked out by midday.’’
Among the 400 visitors were Aaden Colbeck, 6, of Launceston, and Emily Reardon, 8, of Swan Bay, whose fathers both work at the plant.
The fathers said the open day was a great opportunity for them to show their children where they worked.
‘‘Aaden’s visit got off to a good start when he visited the face-painting,’’ Mr Colbeck said.
Mr Reardon said that he took Emily for a second look at the large vehicle at the smelter’s entrance while his other three children looked at the inside displays.
Emily said that sitting in the vehicle that dwarfed her was ‘‘fun’’ but she wasn’t sure she’d like to drive it.
Mr Mostogl said the plant had endured a tough 60 years but they were ‘‘certainly very rewarding’’.
‘‘We were able to show off a good deal more of the operation than in previous tours,’’ he said.
‘‘The last one was four years ago and people really appreciated it.
‘‘It’s really hard to describe the scale of things to people who have no involvement with heavy industry and that impressed most people.’’
The plant will open its doors to the public again next Sunday, between 10.30am and 2.30pm.