Alcoa moves toward sale of New York smelter site to NYDIG

Alcoa is in advanced discussions to sell its Massena East smelter site in upstate New York to New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). 

The update was shared by Alcoa chief executive Bill Oplinger in comments reported on Friday. Oplinger stated that the transaction “should be done in the middle part of this year” if the process continues as planned. The site is part of a wider effort by Alcoa to offload around 10 idle US smelter properties.

The Massena East facility sits along the St. Lawrence River and covers about 1,300 acres. It has been inactive since 2014 after high energy costs and global competition reduced domestic production viability.

NYDIG, a Bitcoin financial services company, would become the owner of the site if the deal is completed. The firm has already been active at the location through its partnership with Coinmint.

NYDIG took a strategic stake in Coinmint in October 2024. Coinmint operates Bitcoin mining hardware at the Massena campus under a long-term lease agreement signed with Alcoa in 2018.

The facility has access to hydropower from the New York Power Authority, which supports large-scale mining operations. The site has also been used as a hosting location for mining infrastructure over recent years.

Additionally, Coinmint has hosted mining equipment for several firms, including CleanSpark, Gryphon, and Bit Digital. Some of these clients exited as NYDIG increased its operational role at the site.

Mintvest Capital, a minority shareholder in Coinmint, filed a lawsuit earlier in the year. The claim stated that NYDIG had “effectively acquired Coinmint for roughly $200 million,” according to court filings referenced in reports.

The dispute remains part of ongoing legal proceedings related to ownership structure and valuation of the mining operation.

Shift in Industrial Sites Toward Digital Infrastructure

The sale of Massena East follows a broader trend of industrial sites being repurposed for digital infrastructure. Former smelters and heavy industrial facilities are increasingly being evaluated for data center or mining use.

Other companies have followed similar paths. Century Aluminum sold its Hawesville, Kentucky smelter to TeraWulf for $200 million, with plans for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads rather than mining alone.

NYDIG has also expanded its mining capacity through acquisitions. The firm purchased assets from Consensus Technology Group and later agreed to acquire Crusoe Energy’s Bitcoin mining business. These moves added more than 390 MW of combined capacity across multiple US locations.

The Massena East deal would further extend NYDIG’s position in large-scale mining infrastructure tied to industrial power access and long-term energy contracts.