According to a report, Aurum Exploration (Fiji) Limited is eyeing to resume bauxite shipment in the first half of 2019. It is thus, looking for options in terms of securing buyers for its bauxite resource.
In an interview, the Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Ashneel Sudhakar said operations have temporarily ceased at Naivigiri in Bua, due to a lull in bauxite export.
The Minister also said that potential buyers are umpteen but the catalyst for finalising a bauxite sale is the quality. Hence, the company is reportedly taking steps to improve its bauxite beneficiation facility efficiency which should result in an improved economic value of bauxite.
The target is to secure a buyer and resume bauxite shipment in the first half of 2019.
He, however, explained, “there is no global crisis as such to affect China’s bauxite demand.”
“The mining leaseholder, Aurum Exploration (Fiji) Limited had made a business decision to reassess mine plans as how best to economically extract and process the low-grade ore the company had encountered within its mining lease.”
The problem is not the global bauxite market but the low quality of in-situ bauxite resource at Naibulu Mine.
In terms of quality, the company is facing competition from Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea etc. who have high-grade bauxite ore.
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