Nimba Mining Company SA has appointed Patrice L'Huillier as Director General and Djiba Diakité as Chairman of the Board of Directors, with both appointments confirmed through separate presidential decrees. The announcement was made on Friday, October 23, 2026, during a national television news broadcast. L'Huillier, a civil engineer specialising in bridges and roads, will serve as Director General for an initial three-year term, which is renewable. According to his appointment decree, he will work under a performance contract with the Ministry of Mines and Geology. The contract will establish his objectives, the methods for assessing his performance and his obligations regarding the transfer of skills to national staff. In a separate decree, Diakité, Minister Director of the Cabinet of...
Rio Tinto’s planned USD 1.9 billion investment in the Kangwinan bauxite project is expected to support more than 1,300 construction jobs in Queensland, while helping secure the long-term future of its Weipa mining operations as existing sources of production approach the end of their lives. Located on Western Cape York Peninsula, Kangwinan will add 20 million tonnes of annual bauxite production capacity, with first output targeted for 2029 and full production expected by 2032. The project will raise Weipa Operations’ annual capacity to around 44 million tonnes from current production of approximately 38 million tonnes. Construction is scheduled to ramp up in 2027. Beyond the immediate employment boost, the investment is expected to help sustain Rio Tinto’s residentially based workforce of...
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Bauxite prices CFR China held steady over the week, with the CBIX index marginally higher (0.5% or US$0.25/dmt), closing at US$48.6/dmt on the back of higher priced bauxite from Guinea and Brazil, offset by lower priced Malaysian material. As reported in our release last week, Malaysia has extended its mining ban for a third time, now through to the end of calendar 2016. Reaction to the extension by local miners was a mixture of surprise and disappointment, although many in the industry thought the extension a mere formality. According to official sources, there are 4.13 million tonnes of stock external to the port, requiring export before the ban will be lifted. However, local miners claim the stocks are closer to 1-2 million tonnes. Despite 39 special Approved Permits (AP’s) being...
Since the time Indonesia had imposed a ban on ore export two years back creating a sudden lull in the hyperactive export market for China, a number of countries came up to seize the market and provide an alternative source of bauxite for China. Australia took the first plunge and continued to export a large amount of bauxite to China. It was followed by Malaysia and the country continued to export to China till the Malaysian government imposed almost a yearly ban on the mining and export of bauxite effective January 2016 amid worries over its severe environmental impact. This again put Australia back into the export market to China. China’s hunger for bauxite will not cease to increase in near term as the country keeps on adding its aluminium capacity. Now, the reports indicate that...
The Fijian government confirmed its first shipment of bauxite in 2016 on Wednesday. Fiji’s Acting director of the Mineral Resources Department Apete Soro told local media that the first shipment of the year left the Fijian port of Bua last month, bound for refineries in the People’s Republic of China. “I can confirm that the shipment of bauxite left our shores on August 14, with a total gross tonnage of 69,000,” he said. “According to Aurum [Exploration (Fiji) Ltd], the estimated cost at present market value should be around $1.4m. The next shipment is expected later this year or early next year.” Soro went on to say that the bauxite in question had been stored at the Nawailevu stockpile area on Gaola Bay, Vanua Levu for the past year due to the general unfavorability of the market. A...
International Finance Corporation, a member of the world Bank Group announced Wednesday that it is going to invest $200 million in the bauxite mining company Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée in Guinea, to support 'broad-based growth' in the West African country that is still recovering from the devastations caused by Ebola epidemic. The debt financing by IFC will support the proposed expansion at CBG's Sangaredi bauxite mine while creating jobs and upgrading transport infrastructure for the region. It is also going to be the largest foreign investment in Guinea recent times. Guinea boasts of about 28 per cent of total bauxite reserves of the world, but the industry here is faced by challenges arising due to limited infrastructure and unstructured government procedures. IFC's investment in...
Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) signed an agreement with the government of Guizhou Province last month for an expansive bauxite-alumina integrated complex in the region, industry source reported. As per deal, Chalco will establish a bauxite-alumina JV project in Guizhou Province in collaboration with Zunyi Government Investment Platform and Southwest Energy & Mineral Inc. The project will explore bauxite in Dazhen County that will be used for alumina refining within its complex, the source added. The project will be built at a total investment of around 4 billion RMB. Guizhou is known for its rich bauxite resources, and the project stands to benefit immensely from it from logistics point of view.
The moratorium on bauxite mining in Malaysia's Pahang has been extended till end of this year. The government said if the current high ore stockpiles were not cleared by December 31, it would extend the ban for another six months. Bauxite mining industry in Malaysia, though largely unregulated, has boomed in the last two years on the back of steady demand for the ore from the largest aluminium producing country China. Earlier, it would import bauxite mainly from Indonesia. Ever since exports were banned in Indonesia, the procurement process took a sharp turn. It was during this time that Malaysia shot to prominence as a bauxite supplier. But the random pace of mining that followed thereafter took a serious toll on the region's environment and public health forcing government to take...
Australian Bauxite Ltd recently provided a review opf operations and accounts for the half-year ended 30 June 2016. ABx had suspended production at its Bald Hill bauxite project in northern Tasmania due to an oversupply of the ore from Malaysia into the China market. It had 40,000 tonnes of high quality bauxite stockpiled at Bell Bay port, all of which has been sold. New shipments are now being assembled at the bauxite mine site. The miner reopened the Bald Hill bauxite project ahead of schedule on 4 August 2016. During the first half of 2016, ABx identified new markets other than the Chinese metallurgical bauxite market and sold the 40,000 tonnes stockpile as cement-grade bauxite. The company announced significant increase in cement-grade bauxite resources at the Fingal Rail project...
It was a record performance for Dammam-Saudi Railway Company’s (SAR) mine trains for three consecutive months as their phosphate and Bauxite transfer quantities exceeded 751,000 tons in August. Rail freight is affiliated with SAR and it has carried about 16 million tons of phosphate and bauxite ores from the day of its commission until August. Notably, SAR is owned by Public Investment Fund, an investment wing of Saudi Ministry of Finance that invested around $5.6 billion (SR 21 billion) in the firm. SAR’s mine railroad represents the major railway line in Saudi Arabia. It’s mine trains run 1,395 km from phosphate mines in Hazem al-Jalamid north KSA and bauxite mines central KSA to Ras al-Khair that is known as the Minerals Industrial City. They supply phosphate and bauxite ores to...
Bauxite prices CIF China climbed over the week, with CBIX up 2.1% (US$1.0/dmt), closing at US$48.3/dmt, on the back of higher priced bauxite from Australia. The absence of lower ViU-priced cargos from Malaysia continues to have a positive impact on the CBIX price, although we expect CBIX prices to be affected by Malaysia’s return. In the meantime, sentiment remains positive, with the prospect of high grade LT bauxite prices increasing over the coming weeks. Malaysian FOB prices remain unchanged at US$26/dmt (unwashed, non ViU-adjusted) ahead of the ban being lifted, and washed material quoted at US$38/dmt FOB(CBIX US$42.3/dmt), inline with pre-ban prices. Developments in Guinea continue at breakneck speed, with the WAP/SMB joint venture moving closer to completing construction of its...
Metro Mining Ltd announced the receipt of shareholder approval for the issue of their shares to Greenstone Metro Holdings LP which forms a part of the company's funding strategy. With this, Greenstone becomes the largest shareholder of the mining company and will be providing strategic support for developing Metro’s flagship Bauxite Hills project in northern Queensland, on an ongoing basis. Metro will issue shares worth US$8.9 million with a19.98 per cent interest to Greenstone. An additional US$20 million is available for Bauxite Hills construction as follow-on equity support. Metro enjoys full funding through to a decision to carry out mining operations at the aforesaid location. Bauxite Hills Project Metro Mining updated that the project has a total bauxite resource of 65.3 million...
Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources, the London-based metal and mining conglomerate, said he is hoping the issue of bauxite supply for its Lanjigarh alumina refinery will get resolved by the end of this year. Agarwal said this after meeting Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneshwar yesterday, where he also made an announcement of investing INR100 crore on a medical college hospital in backward Kalahandi district in the state. "We have been assured by the chief minister to get bauxite through the state run Odisha Mining Corporation by March next," Agarwal told media. Agarwal said his company had made huge investments in the state since more than a decade now but they were yet to reap any benefits out of that. Vedanta's Lanjigarh alumina refinery has been reeling under...
The Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar (IITBBS) in one of its research verticals- Waste to Construction Material, has developed a novel technology by which red mud, the hazardous waste of alumina refining from bauxite, is converted to concrete. Henceforth, environment of the areas adjacent to a bauxite processing plant will not be affected due to the waste, expect researchers. The concrete developed has already been tested under different conditions and scientists found it suitable for use in all types of construction. Currently, a two-member team from IITBBS is working on further development of the technology to make it more robust and economically feasible, updated IITBBS Director RV Raja Kumar. The team is also looking at making the concrete, which is right now in the...
Bauxite prices CIF China were mostly stable over the week, with CBIX up 0.3 per cent (US$0.1/dmt), closing at US$47.3/dmt. Malaysian cargos are re-appearing in the market, despite the mining ban still being in place, and at price points similar to those pre-ban. We're forecasting a higher portion of Malaysian cargos to enter China once the ban is lifted mid-September, and at a price point marginally higher than the pre-ban level. Higher priced Atlantic cargos continue to offset the lower Malaysian prices, resulting in a relatively stable CBIX index over the week. Washed Malaysian bauxite FOB is selling for US$38/dmt FOB (CBIX US$42.3/dmt), inline with pre-ban prices. Interestingly, sentiment in Malaysia now seems to be turning positive, as miners and exporters alike prepare for a...
In response to the recent furore created by Bua Urban Youth over the non-obtainment of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from the landowners of Fiji's Bua Province, before any bauxite mining process, Malakai Nalawa, Ministry of Land's deputy secretary said, bauxite has been mined only at Naibulu and Nawailevu, and chiefs from both areas have given their full consent for the project. The companies currently carrying out bauxite mining operations in these two areas have rightfully obtained permission from their chiefs, Mr Nalawa updated. Nevertheless, BUY representative Vani Catanasiga demands the official must go beyond the chiefs' approval and ask for individual consent of the landowners, as the youth body thinks that chiefs' consent may not voice the true intent of the landowners in...
There seems to be no quick respite for Vedanta as far as sourcing of bauxite for its ailing Lanjigarh alumina refinery is concerned. The green activists who had long opposed Niyamgiri bauxite mining project, driving the mining major’s alumina refinery in Lanjigarh to a near closure, seem to be equally peeved with the state government’s latest move to arrange bauxite for the company from Kodingamali mines in Koraput district. “The issues that we fought for at Niyamgiri are also relevant for Kodingamali, a forested hill range saddled by tribal inhabitations,” said Prafulla Samantray, head of Lok Shakti Abhiyan, a social organisation. Biswajit Mohanty, managing trustee of Wild Society of Orissa, was heard echoing his concern. Despite its strategic location in the bauxite hub of the country,...
According to China's General Administration of Customs data released on August 24, bauxite import of the country shrunk 27.43 per cent year-on-year to stand at 3,634,184 million tonnes in July 2016. During January-July period, bauxite import rose 4.8 per cent YoY, a minimal rise compared to what the country has been purchasing from foreign countries in recent years. Australia, Guinea, Brazil, Malaysia, Republic of Ghana, and Guyana are the key countries from where China sourced maximum volume of bauxite, the principal ore of aluminium, during the period under review. Australia shipped 2,126,059 mt bauxite in July, up 12 per cent from the same period previous year, and 11,654,798 mt in January-July period, up 2.4 per cent from the corresponding period previous year. Guinea, Brazil, and...
Australian Bauxite Limited Fingal Rail Bauxite Project in northern Tasmania has proven to be ideal for production of cement-grade bauxite for rail transport and export from Bell Bay Port. Cement-grade bauxite resources for the Fingal Rail Bauxite Project total 6.3 million tonnes 1 which is a 5-fold increase compared with its maiden resource estimate of 1.18 million tonnes. Fingal Rail is considered the most likely second mine for ABx and would be operated as part of the Campbell Town production centre under the same operating team that is working on the Bald Hill Mine, which was the first new bauxite mine in Australia for more than 35 years. When long-term sale contracts are finalised, ABx will expedite development of Fingal Rail which holds substantial tonnages of cement-grade bauxite...
India's total output of bauxite, the principal ore of aluminium, shot up 35.5 per cent in June this year, compared to the same period previous year. The country's overall mining and quarrying sector for the month of June grew by 4.7 per cent to INR18,344 crore compared to the corresponding period previous year, said a Ministry of Mines release. The year-on-year cumulative growth for the period April-June this year stood at 2.3 per cent, added the ministry. In terms of value, the contribution of coal was the highest at INR7,171 crore, which is 39 per cent of the total mineral value recorded in the period under review. Resources of bauxite in India as per UNFC system are placed at about 3,480 million tonnes which is about 5 per cent of the world total. These resources include 593 million...
