United Company RUSAL Plc announced that on 22 June 2016 the company's Board of Directors has approved (i) Annex 12 to the Dian-Dian Concession Agreement dated 21 July 2001 in relation to the Dian-Dian project; and (ii) an agreement on restoration of the alumina refinery Friguia and its further expansion, that were signed by the company and the Republic of Guinea.
Annex 12
Taking into account the economic situation in the alumina industry, the parties to the Annex 12 agreed that the construction of a new alumina refinery on the bauxite mine Dian-Dian is not economically feasible. In this regard, Annex 12 provides the following obligations to the company:
1) The first stage of the bauxite production: The construction of a bauxite mine with a capacity of up to 3 million tons per annum aimed for export. This obligation is due on 31 December 2017.
2) The second stage of the bauxite production:
a) Expansion of the bauxite mine up to a capacity of 6 million tons per annum aimed for export. This obligation is due on 31 December 2021.
b) Development of the feasibility study and the environmental impact assessment of the project with the expansion of up to 9 million tons per annum to meet the needs of export with the possibility of expansion of up to 12 million tons per annum. This obligation is due on 31 December 2021.
3) The third stage relates to the alumina production: The parties to Annex 12 agreed to discuss no later than 31 December 2020 the economical reasonableness of alumina refinery construction.
The Dian-Dian project is wholly-owned by the company.
The Agreement
The Agreement provides the following obligations of the company:
1) The restoration activities will commence on 10 January 2017 with the subsequent restart of the plant.
2) Within a certain period of time following the restart, the plant will gradually be brought to the nominal production capacity of up to 550,000 — 600,000 tons of alumina per annum.
3) The company will commence the realization of the plant expansion project up to a capacity of 1.05 million tons per annum in 2020 depending on the economic feasibility of such an expansion and the global alumina market conditions.
The Friguia refinery is wholly-owned by the UC Rusal Plc.
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