Rio Tinto cutting up to 170 positions in Montreal

Rio Tinto is shedding between 110 and 170 jobs inMontreal as the mining company prepares to move early next year intoits new Canadian headquarters, with the Alcan name missing from thebuilding.

The company said Monday that the staff reductions are part of theLondon-based company's efforts announced last February to streamlineglobal operations to reduce costs.

"We are in a cyclical industry and we have to adapt with themarket," spokeswoman Claudine Gagnon said.

The reduction of corporate jobs that support various metal groupswill begin in a few weeks and be completed by year-end.

About 800 employees currently work for the aluminum and othermetal group divisions in Montreal.

The aluminum division's global headquarters will remain in thecity but the name Alcan will gradually become less prominent.RioTinto will be the identity of the featured tenant in the new, 26-storeyDeloitte tower that will open next to the Bell Centre home of theMontreal Canadiens.

Rio Tinto will occupy the top floors of the tower beginning inthe first quarter of 2016.

The Rio Tinto Alcan moniker will still be used for Montreal's newplanetarium and sponsorship events like the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Alcan has been in use since 1925 for the company, formerly theAluminum Company of Canada. It was acquired by Rio Tinto in 2007 for$38.1 billion US.

In addition to aluminum operations in Quebec and BritishColumbia, Rio Tinto owns a majority stake in the Iron Ore Company ofCanada and the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories.