GREENUP, Ky. — In good news for the Tri-State, on Sunday the announcement came that a Russian company will invest $200 million in the Braidy Industries’ Atlas aluminum mill in Greenup, Kentucky.

Braidy Industries CEO and Chairman Craig Bouchard had teased on Facebook that a big announcement was coming.

Soon after, it was announced that the company had a letter of intent agreement with En+ Group, a subsidiary of Rusal, a Russian aluminum company that is one of the world’s largest producer of aluminum outside of China and is the U.S.’s number two supplier of imported supplier of prime aluminum.

The agreement will be finalized after the boards of both companies approve it.

Rusal will obtain a 40 percent share in the project and En+ Group executive chairman Lord Barker will assume the role of co-chairman of the Braidy Atlas mill alongside Bouchard.

Bouchard said that no U.S. producer of prime aluminum is able to supply the huge quantities required and that only a company outside the U.S. that can supply low-carbon, high-quality aluminum at this scale was Rusal.

“This partnership assures that Braidy’s requirements will be met with the newest high-quality and low-carbon capacity,” he said. “The bottom line is that, without Rusal, we could not build an environmentally-conscious mill of this scale. We enter the market with the perfect customer proposition ­— low cost, high quality and low carbon is the future of aluminum.”

Barker said the announcement is an important first step in forging the long-term partnership that will be vital to building this globally unique plant.

“Of all prime producers around the world only Rusal, the largest outside China, has the capacity to supply such a large new plant with the high-quality, low-carbon aluminum it needs,” he said.

Rusal will serve as Braidy’s exclusive supplier of low-carbon aluminum, providing close to 2 million metric tons over 10 years. This will be the world’s largest order for one mill of high-quality, pre-alloyed and low-carbon primary aluminum slabs. Braidy Atlas mill’s primary aluminum purchase has a market value of approximately $500 million per year.

Braidy Industry broke ground at the EastPark business/industrial park last June on what will be a $1.3 billion plant with 45 acres of factory will be under roof and the mill will be producing milled aluminum for use in the automotive, airline, and defense industries. The company says it will be able to produce offer a broad array of aluminum roll and sheet, including 200,000 tons of series 6000 auto body sheet, 100,000 tons of series 5000 sheet and 70,000 tons of series 7000 aerospace plate annually.

It is the first new greenfield rolling plant to be built the U.S. in 37 years.

Bouchard  said Braidy Atlas will create 1,500 construction jobs, 650 new permanent advanced manufacturing jobs and approximately 3,600 additional jobs in the surrounding communities.