Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) will launch the first phase of construction of its bauxite mine in Guinea following final approval it received from its board of directors.
The new mine will be managed through its subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC).
EGA aims to create a new, substantial revenue stream through significant exports to Asia.
Initial production at the mine will amount to 12 million tonnes annually. The company holds a concession on more than 1 billion tonnes of bauxite. Part of the project is the construction of a dedicated export terminal at Port Kamsar and upgrades to an existing rail infrastructure for inland logistics. The African nation holds the world’s largest reserves of quality bauxite, the raw material for aluminium.
Through Port Kamsar bauxite will be exported to the Middle East and Pacific markets. Bauxite production is expected to begin in 2018.
The mine helps integrate operations of EGA’s smelting operations with world-class upstream assets, reducing dependency on third parties for its raw material.
EGA’s alumina plant is under construction adjacent to its Al Taweelah Operations aluminium smelter in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi. The alumina refinery will have annual production capacity of two million tonnes.
Abdulla Kalban, managing director and CEO, EGA, said: “This investment builds on our plan to secure EGA’s supply chain and capitalise on growth in the third-party bauxite market.
“Despite the prevailing challenges facing the aluminium industry, we remain confident in the long-term outlook for the sector, and believe it is the right time for us to invest in high-quality, cost-competitive assets. We have built a strong presence in-country with the support of the government and people of Guinea, and we will continue our work to support local communities there – including the training of more than 200 Guineans in the UAE for deployment to key roles in our business.”
BENEFITS TO GUINEA
The mine development project is estimated to create approximately 4,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Boké region, increase Guinea’s GDP by more than 10 per cent annually, and solidify Guinea’s position as the world’s largest exporter of bauxite, thus providing a significant uplift to the country’s foreign earnings. Global demand for high-quality bauxite, particularly in China, is expected to grow significantly over the next decade.
EGA has plans for further investments in Guinea upon the successful completion of the bauxite export mine, including the development of an alumina refinery. EGA prides itself in the development of projects to exacting global standards of community and environmental responsibility, with substantial investments made to date and to be further developed through the life of the project.
EGA’s areas of focus include community health centres, of which five have been delivered so far, provision of clean water (26 wells delivered to date), primary and secondary education (schools for more than 5,500 children constructed), vocational training (approximately 500 trained to date) and SME development as well as investments in the protection of habitats for rare and endangered flora and fauna.
The company’s two operating sites in Abu Dhabi and Dubai (UAE) currently produce 2.4 million tonnes of primary aluminium annually.
