Ghana has cancelled a $1.2-billion bauxite lease with local firm Rocksure International, seeking a partnership instead with a big overseas company to tap one of West Africa’s richest deposits, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Potential partners include Dubai-based Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) or a Chinese firm, two of the sources said.

The termination marks a strategic pivot by Ghana, which holds an estimated 900-million metric tons of bauxite, the seventh largest globally, but has struggled to attract sustained investment in mining and refining infrastructure.

Rocksure's lease covered the Nyinahin Hills in central Ghana, home to about 376-million tons of bauxite, the feedstock for aluminium.

It was the basis for a joint venture between Rocksure and the state-owned Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) to build a mine and alumina refinery, with Rocksure holding 70% of the Asante Bauxite Company JV. GIADEC and the government owned 20% and 10%, respectively.

The lease was never ratified by parliament, rendering it void under a 2019 Supreme Court ruling.

"By the Exton Cubic ruling, without ratification, you have no lease," one of the sources said, adding that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources had informed Rocksure.

GIADEC declined to comment, citing ongoing negotiations. The lands ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Rocksure also declined to comment.

Another of the sources said the firm had not been formally notified of the termination, only that GIADEC was exiting the JV.

Ghana, Africa's top gold producer, lags in bauxite production behind regional peers like Guinea, a global bauxite giant.

GIADEC is now actively courting new investors, including EGA and several Chinese firms, the GIADEC source said.

EGA, which lost its mining license in Guinea over delays in building a refinery, signed a memorandum of understanding with GIADEC in June to explore opportunities in Ghana.

“EGA has expressed interest in jointly developing bauxite opportunities in Ghana and is currently assessing the technical and commercial parameters of such collaboration,” the company told Reuters in an email response to queries.

EGA said no binding agreement had been signed, and did not disclose investment figures, resource estimates or timelines.

A third source said EGA had previously considered investing in Ghana around 2022 but backed out to avoid jeopardizing its Guinea license. "They didn't want Guinea to feel they were shifting focus to Ghana," the source said.

"Sourcing bauxite from Ghana aligns with our objective to grow aluminium production by diversifying our supply base,” EGA said.

GIADEC aims to begin extraction and off-take from the area - known as Block B - in the first quarter of next year. While no deals have been finalised, talks with potential partners are at an advanced stage, according to the first source.

"We’re looking at all options to see which one serves the interest of the nation," the first source said.    

The Ghana Chamber of Mines projects national bauxite output will rise to 2-million tons in 2025, from a record 1.7-million tons this year.