Kaiser Aluminum Announces Appointment of Senior Vice President - Corporate Development and Appointment of Additional Officers

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU), today announced that John Barneson has been named Senior Vice President - Corporate Development and will be responsible for the company's external growth initiatives. Mr. Barneson previously served as the company's Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer.

"John has extensive operational and executive-level expertise in virtually every aspect of our businesses and strategy," said Jack A. Hockema, president and CEO of Kaiser Aluminum. "External growth is a key strategic initiative for the company as we move forward, and this move will allow John to focus his efforts on exploring opportunities that will complement our product portfolio and deliver long-term stockholder value."

    The company also announced the following appointments:

    --  John M. Donnan as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and
        Secretary. Mr. Donnan will be assuming responsibility for
        oversight of a number of areas previously managed by Mr.
        Barneson relating primarily to regulatory and compliance
        functions. He joined the company in 1993 and was appointed
        Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary in 2005.

    --  James E. McAuliffe as Senior Vice President - Human Resources.
        Mr. McAuliffe joined the company in 1998 as Vice President of
        Human Resources for the company's fabricating business and has
        more than 25 years of experience in leadership roles in human
        resources at the corporate and divisional levels of large
        multinational public companies including Rexam, Allied Signal
        and J.P. Industries.

    --  Lynton J. Rowsell as Vice President and Chief Accounting
        Officer. Mr. Rowsell joined the company in 2006 as director of
        external reporting and assumed the Chief Accounting Officer
        position in 2007. Prior to joining the company, he was
        employed by GeoLogistics, a freight forwarding company with
        revenues of approximately $2 billion. From 1999 to 2006, he
        held several positions of increasing responsibility, most
        recently as a senior manager at Ernst & Young.

"These gentlemen reflect the depth and quality of the company's management talent and our confidence in their ability to assume roles of increasing responsibility," added Hockema.

Kaiser Aluminum, headquartered in Foothill Ranch, Calif., is a leading producer of fabricated aluminum products, serving customers worldwide with highly-engineered solutions for aerospace and high-strength, general engineering, and automotive and custom industrial applications. The company's 11 plants in North America annually produce more than 500 million pounds of value-added sheet, plate, extrusions, forgings, rod, bar and tube products, adhering to traditions of quality, innovation and service that have been key components of our culture since the company was founded in 1946. The company's stock is included in the Russell 2000(R) index. For more information, please visit www.kaiseraluminum.com.

This press release contains statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from those expressed or implied. Kaiser Aluminum cautions that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and involve significant risks and uncertainties, and that actual events may vary materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. These factors include: (a) the company's ability to successfully implement its external growth initiatives, (b) changes in economic or aluminum industry business conditions generally, including global supply and demand conditions; (c) changes in the markets served by the company, including aerospace, defense, general engineering, automotive, distribution and other markets; and (d) other risk factors summarized in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006.

Source: Kaiser Aluminum

Released December 12, 2007