Mali’s chamber of mines told Reuters on Tuesday that Mali's Falea project is now estimated at 1.63 billion tonnes of bauxite reserves. The bauxite reserve is equal to 572 tonnes of refined aluminium with numerous new discoveries.
Mali is the landlocked country in West Africa and the third largest gold exporter in Africa. With Chinese-built rail projects worth $11 billion, the nation expects to explore other minerals as well.
Abdoulaye Pona, the president of Mali's chamber of mines, said that initially 439 million tonnes ore was estimated at Falea . The estimation was raised by two more discoveries that included 720 million tonnes of bauxite equal to 252 million tonnes of aluminium at Bouala and 480 million tonnes of ore yielding 168 million tonnes of refined metal at Torolo.
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He added, "The (project) is just waiting for the start of the construction of the rails to start the construction of the ramps connecting the production sites to the main track."
Dialla Konate, ERG country manager, told Reuters: "Moreover, we are considering ... supplying the local market by truck. We are in talks with local cement manufacturers (who use bauxite), which means that production could start at any time."
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