Guinea extends deadline for bauxite miners to present refinery plans
Guinea's junta has given bauxite mining companies 10 days to present a timeline for the construction of alumina refineries, extending an end of May deadline the companies did not meet, it said in a statement on Friday.
Africa's biggest producer of the aluminium ore has been seeking to channel its mineral wealth into economic development and has pressured companies to build local facilities to refine bauxite into higher value alumina.
"As of today, it has been noted that none of the companies has complied," said the statement, a readout from a June 9 cabinet meeting.
The companies affected by the refinery ultimatum include Guinea's top two bauxite producers Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB) and Compagnie des Bauxite de Guinee (CBG). Neither company immediately responded to a request for comment.
Guinea only has one alumina refinery so far, the Friguia refinery owned by Russian aluminium giant Rusal, which also operates two bauxite mines in the country.
Analysts say there are hurdles to refining in-country.
"Refinery projects in Guinea only benefit from their bauxite, as all the other raw material needs, such as energy and caustic soda, need to be imported," Anthony Everiss, senior consultant at commodity research house CRU, said in a recent note.
CRU estimated that six companies have alumina refinery plans in Guinea, for a total planned capacity of 11-million tonnes a year. Most of these plans are at an early stage, according to CRU.
Guinea is also looking to set a reference price for bauxite, according to the government statement, which did not detail how this would work in practice.
The interim president is concerned about bauxite miners in Guinea setting different prices for the ore, the statement said, and expects a draft decree on the issue by next Friday.
Guinea exported 81.1-million tonnes of bauxite in 2021, according to mines ministry statistics. China imports around half of its bauxite from the West African country.
The government also said that partners in the Simandou iron-ore mine would meet the president on Friday to finalise a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Chinese-backed consortium Winning Consortium Simandou.
Rio Tinto declined to comment on the meeting, and WCS did not reply to a request for comment.
Guinea has grown increasingly impatient with the companies that control the giant Simandou deposit, which has not been developed since Rio was first granted an exploration licence for it 25 years ago.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation