Rio Tinto will have to stand on its own two feet over its Tiwai Point aluminium smelter

The country's largest electricity consumer is considering closing - after losing money due to the high cost of running the plant

That would affect one thousand staff.

There have been calls for the government to step in..but Finance Minister Grant Robertson says there will be no bail out.

He says commodity prices go up and down and its up to the company to manage that.

The minister says Rio Tinto's making good headway in its discussion with Meridian over the cost of power.