Bauxite Tycoon Fadi Wazni plans to develop Alumina refinery in Guinea, post the acquisition of Alteo in France

The bauxite tycoon, Fadi Wazni, after acquiring the world's number one speciality alumina refinery in France, Alteo, the Franco-Guinean Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Boké mining company, plans to develop an alumina refinery in Guinea.

The buyout plan by the Guinean UMS (United Mining Supply) of the French alumina plant Alteo, world number one in speciality alumina, was in receivership since December 2019 and was validated on 7^th January 2021 by the Marseille commercial court.

Already present in the exploitation of bauxite through the Boké Mining Company (SMB) in which its UMS group is associated up to 30% with Singaporean Winning Shipping and Chinese Shandong Weiqiao, Franco-Guinean Fadi Wazni, born in Lebanon, therefore ensures control of a large part of the sector, by integrating the final processing of the ore.

The industrialist, who was already planning to build an alumina refinery in Guinea, is now aiming for higher quality processing, including speciality alumina used in the manufacture of smartphone screens or batteries for electric cars in particular.

Fadi Wazni said: “It's a natural process. Alteo has an exceptional history and know-how. We were initially in talks to sell them bauxite, but as they were in difficulty, it was considered useful to seize this opportunity since we are one of the largest bauxite producers.”