It’s even getting bigger! And yes the exclamation point is appropriate.
In the wake of The Reporter breaking the news last week that cryptocurrency mega-player Bitmain is re-purposing the former Alcoa Rockdale Operations smelter for a bitcoin mining operation, the land broker who is marketing 30,000-plus acres at the site said it’s only the beginning.
Bernard Uechtritz told the Austin Business Journal Bitmain is “only the beginning” and “it is by far not the biggest news to come, nor will they be our most high-profile global tenant, global brand or, importantly, the biggest revenue stream source now poised and coming to the Sandow Lakes Ranch complex,” he said.
Uechtritz told the ABJ Alcoa has signed 11 leases on the site and is talking with 30 interested parties
Sandow Lakes is the name under which the former Rockdale Operation is being marketed.
Bitmain is only leasing acreage encompassing the smelter footprint.
MORE—Uechtritz told the ABJ leases are in the works from global brands in solar, agricultural, technology, industrial and water resource management industries.
He did not reveal names.
The ABJ quoted Uechtritz as noting Alcoa is currently in negotiations with five or six solar companies and one wants to take 5,000 to 6,000 acres.
He said there were “talks” of building two to three solar energy farms on site.
Those might help provide the enormous amounts of power the bitcoin mining operation will require.
NOT LUMINANT—During the week, The Reporter checked out some local buzz that Luminant, which shut down its Sandow 4 and 5 power plants in January, was planning to reopen one to provide power for Bit-main.
“ (Bitmain) is by far not the the biggest news to come nor will they be our most high-profile global tenant... ” —Bernard Uechtritz, Icon Global Group, broker for Alcoa Lakes Ranch
Meranda Cohn, Luminant spokesperson who works in corporate affairs at Vistra Energy’s Dallas office, has told The Reporter: “We continue to move forward with decommissioning both Sandow units.”
Uechtritz confirmed that statement, telling the ABJ no tenants will re-start the coal-fired plant.
Decommissioning tasks, according to Cohn include safe closing of the plant, ensuring governmental and regulatory rules are met, to inventory equipment and determine what to keep and what to sell to third parties.
NEGOTIATIONS—Uechtritz told the ABJ negotiations are underway with people who want to buy the entire Sandow Lakes Ranch and that the context contains many factors including water.
There are 14 lakes on the property and permission currently exists to pump 44,000 acre-feet of water per year and permitting is possible for another 14,000 acre-feet.
The ABJ quoted Uechtritz as crediting Alcoa for remediating the former Sand-ow Mine and covering it with ranch land, wildlife and water features. He said a potential buyer could also choose to place a conservation easement on much of the property and receive tax credits in return.
NEWS SOURCE—In an unfamiliar twist, The Reporter found its story of last week being used as source material by some of the nation’s leading news outlets.
Mega-communications giant The Dallas Morning News ran a story on Bit-main’s plans at the former Alcoa smelter last week, a day and a half after The Reporter broke that news.
And the DMN’s main source was listed as....The Rockdale Reporter.
Here’s are a few paragraphs of the DMN story, posted late Thursday night on the newspaper’s Dallas-news website:
“Chinese firm Bitmain Technologies is opening cryptocurrency mining operations at the site of a former aluminum smelter outside Rockdale, according to the local newspaper Rockdale Reporter, and confirmed by a local official.”
“It wasn’t clear when the new facility would open. One local official said he was unable to comment publicly on plans for the former Alcoa site.
“On the job site Indeed.com, Bitmain Technologies listed the need for a project manager for the Rockdale location...”
The Reporter was told Wednesday morning by the Austin Business Journal managing editor that publication has also referenced The Reporter story as it prepared its own coverage.
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