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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Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Vedanta Resources have teamed up to find a headway together in the Niyamgiri bauxite mining issue which has long been the centre of a multi-faceted problem involving the state, the mining conglomerate, and major political parties at the Centre. OMC has appealed in the Supreme Court to reorganize the Gram Sabha in Niyamgiri so that it along with Vedanta Resources can mine the Niyamagiri hills by getting the local inhabitants Dongria Kondhs on their side. The State government, on the other hand, has given prospecting license of mining areas in Koraput to Sera Sterlite, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, for 150 hectors of bauxite reserve in Dangadeula hill for laterite mining. If laterite is discovered, then Sesa Sterlite will get lease for 20 years...
Government of Pahang sends out a clear message to the bauxite miners in the region- they should fulfil all conditions stipulated for them before the moratorium on mining can be lifted. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Jaafar said no compromise will be made on the matter and the government will continue extending the moratorium otherwise. "It's like the government is playing football with these companies. We kicked the ball to them and gave them a list of SOPs already, such as for stockpiling and transport bauxite. "They must satisfy the rules first, then we talk. If we allow them to resume mining without meeting those rules, then the people will be affected, and then they will complain to us," said Wan Junaidi. Natural Resources and Environment Minister...
In the second quarter 2016, UC RUSAL reported a 3.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise in bauxite output, totalling at 3,126 thousand tons driven largely by an increase in mining volumes at the Timan and North Urals mines. Bauxite output from the company's Guyana mining site declined by 23.4 per cent Q-o-Q to 244 thousand tons largely due to seasonal factors (rainy season). Nepheline ore production at Kiya Shaltyr in 2Q16 increased further by 8.8 per cent Q-o-Q to 1,208 thousand tons. This increase boosted ore stock levels ahead of the winter season at the Achinsk refinery. In H1 2016, RUSAL's bauxite output totalled 6,135 thousand tons up 2.7 per cent YoY. According to the company's quarterly report, the realized price includes three components: LME component, commodity premium and VAP...
Bauxite Resources Ltd publishes its June 2016 Quarterly Activities and Cashflow Report. The report confirms that the proposed 5 cent per share return of capital payment was completed on 21 June 2016. Exploration activities continued but at a minimal levels on the HD Mining (HDJV) tenements. The joint venture with HD Mining is working and HD Mining will be funding all exploration activities and it has now also paid its outstanding JV contribution commitments. An annual budget has been agreed for BRL to recommence exploration activities which will be funded completely by HD Mining. BRL would continue working on further capital management initiatives and new investment opportunities both within and outside the mining sector. The Board of BRL is undertaking reviews of new projects for future...
The bauxite mines in Bua, Papua New Guinea, have been constantly under the scanner. The Department of Mineral Resources has conducted regular inspections, all of which revealed full compliance on the part of Aurum Exploration Fiji Ltd, the company owning the bauxite mining sites in the region. Department of Mineral Resources acting director Apete Soro said, the company provided all updated reports of business progress to the Office as a part of the disclosure. He added that the department was well aware of the export challenges faced by the company. "The department is fully aware of market constraints, which are limiting the company's efforts in establishing a consistent export cycle," Mr Soro said. "The company continues to explore the possibility of securing long-term contracts with...
Aurum Exploration Fiji Ltd is all set to export 70,000 tonnes of bauxite valued at $4 million, which had remained unshipped at the mining sites, next month after a year of export halt. Acting director for mines at the Department of Mineral Resources, Apete Soro, confirmed that the bauxite company had secured an international buyer. The loading of the ore would begin at the end of this month for shipment in middle of August. "Depending on the ship capacity, the plan is to export approximately 70,000 tonnes of bauxite as first shipment in 2016," Mr Soro said. The delay in shipment over the past one year, he added, was because of the sluggish demand in the Chinese bauxite market. The low impurity content of bauxite from Bua was another contributing factor for the delay. "Major bauxite buyers...
Australian Bauxite Limited released their quarterly report & activities statement for 3 months to 30 June 2016 on July 24, Sunday. The mining group with an available cash plus R&D incentive (due) amounting to $2.9 million posted strong sales of cement-grade bauxite totalling 40,000 tonnes during the period under review. Sale prices were satisfactorily profitable and commercial in confidence. Fertiliser-grade bauxite sales continued at moderate tonnages. The company attributed the performance to the buoyancy in the metallurgical bauxite market. Markets for metallurgical bauxite though had bottomed around May-June 2016, prices have risen in recent weeks. Australian Bauxite, along with its marketing partner, Rawmin Mining Industries, is exploring new markets for both cement-bauxite and...
CBIX steady Value-In-Use adjusted bauxite prices CIF China rose marginally over the week, up by 0.3 per cent (US$0.2/dmt), closing at US$49.5/dmt. Prices for bauxite originating from Australia’s Gove mine pulled back slightly, offset by higher priced material from Weipa and Brazil. Malaysian FOB prices were unchanged at US$26/dmt for unwashed material, although Malaysian volumes remain well down on their peaks from earlier this year. We expect to see more cargos arriving in China from Malaysia now that larger miners have resumed mining operations in Kuantan. Chinese domestic alumina prices fell further last week, with the North down 1.6 per cent (RMB27/t) to RMB1,713/t (US$256/t including VAT) while the South was down 1.1 per cent (RMB20/t) to RMB1,800/t (US$269/t including VAT). Chinese...
China imported 3,506,176 million tonnes of bauxite in June 2016, down 12.3 per cent from the same period previous year. The year-to-date bauxite import, however, increased 12 per cent to reach 25,197,259 mt. Australia topped the list of countries which supplied bauxite ore to China. Australia shipped 1,679,326 mt of bauxite, up 29 per cent y-o-y to China. Guinea was the second biggest supplier of the mineral to China followed by Brazil and Malaysia. Shipment of bauxite from Malaysia to China declined 87 per cent y-o-y to stand at 228,327 mt in June. China imported 53,485 mt of bauxite from India during the period under review. The volume marks a sharp decline of 92 per cent from the corresponding period previous year. China, which happens to be the largest consumer of aluminium, has...
Norsk Hydro Q2 2016 results reported an increase in underlying EBIT on higher prices and sales volumes. However, underlying EBIT for Bauxite & Alumina segment decreased in comparison to Q1. There were a number of positive developments caused by higher realized alumina prices, driven by higher alumina index prices during Q2. Notwithstanding these developments and a drop in raw material consumption, reduced raw material prices, EBIT dropped because of currency effects, as BRL strengthened and caused a hike in other costs. Annual production volume at the Alunorte alumina refinery increased and approached the production capacity of 6.3 million mt per year. The scheduled maintenance of the bauxite ball mill at Paragominas bauxite mine in June has caused a break in production flow and a drop in...
Rio Tinto releases its second quarter production results on July 19 2016 reporting growth in all verticals of its aluminium business. Rio reports nine per cent production growth in Bauxite in comparison to the first half of 2015. This was primarily due to the three per cent improved production rate in Weipa, up 23 per cent Gove and up 22 per cent in Sangaredi in Guinea. The collective performances from all these mines delivered 13 per cent higher production in second quarter than the same quarter of 2015. Such higher volume of bauxite production accounted for the third party sales of 13.9 million tonnes which registered a five per cent growth over the first half of 2015. In November 2015, Rio Tinto approved US$1.9 billion Amrun (South of Embley) bauxite project. The project includes the...
CBIX rose 3.5 per cent (US$1.7/dmt) over the week, to close at US$49.4/dmt. Higher ViU-priced cargos originating from Guinea and Australia were offset marginally by lower ViU priced cargoes from Brazil and Malaysia, resulting in a net increase to the price. Guinean material is now consistently flowing through to the CBIX calculation, given the significant increase in volumes now being exported. Grade variations between sources in Guinea are evident, given the different regions of Guinea being mined for export (variations in grade between Guinean sources are compensated for in the CBIX calculation methodology). Malaysian FOB prices were quoted at US$26/dmt for unwashed material (CBIX equivalent US$38.5/dmt). Washed material is priced at approximately US$37/dmt FOB. Chinese domestic alumina...
According to a recently published report, North America has the largest market share for bauxite mining owing to increased aluminium demand in the region. Europe and Asia Pacific region follows North America in bauxite demand. North America is expected to maintain its dominance from 2015-2020. Europe is expected to witness marginal growth over the forecasted period. However, Asia Pacific region is expected to witness highest growth in the coming future owing to the increasing domestic demand from the automobile industries in the emerging markets of India, China and Japan. Industry experts believe the increasing demand of aluminium in the automobile industry will have influence the aluminium manufacturing companies as they’ll consider investing more in bauxite extraction business. Some of...
National Aluminium Company (NALCO) was trading higher by 4 per cent to INR 50.10 on the BSE in an otherwise subdued market after the company announced that the government has granted Pottangi Bauxite Mines, in Koraput district of Odisha, where the company's 22,75,000-tonne alumina refinery is located. “As per a recent order issued by Department of Steel & Mines, Govt of Odisha, NALCO has been granted the mining lease of Pottangi with an area covering 1738 hectares for a period of 50 years,” NALCO said in a press release. NALCO’s expansion plans, including the proposed addition of 5th stream in its existing Alumina Refinery at an investment of INR 5,600 crore, greatly depended on this additional source of bauxite, it added. The stock hit an intra-day high of INR 50.80 on the BSE so far. A...
Odisha’s Department of Steel & Mines has granted the lease of Pottangi Bauxite Mines, in Koraput district of Odisha to Navaratna PSU National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a company press release reported yesterday. The lease, which covers an area of about 4,295 acres has been granted for a period of 50 years. Nalco’s 22,75,000-tonne alumina refinery is located at a very close proximity to the mine and it is s expected to make operations much easier for the profit making PSU. Commenting on the mining lease, NALCO's CMD Tapan Kumar Chand said that now it is the company's turn to live up to the expectations of both Centre and State, as also the people of Odisha, through expansion, investment and CSR initiatives. The Pottangi reserves join the Panchpatmalli Hills reserves as Nalco’s...
New bauxite deposits have been unearthed in Jashpur district of Chhatisgarh in India, Chief Minister Raman Singh informed the State Assembly in a written communication. He also informed that the State geological team has not confirmed the presence of any limestone deposit in the region. Chhattisgarh accounts for 5 per cent of India’s estimated bauxite reserves of 593 million metric tonnes. The state is home to high quality metallurgical grade bauxite, a characteristic of the eastern coast. Whether the deposits discovered match up to the standard of the other reserves found here remains yet to be confirmed by the team of experts. Chhattisgarh ranks fourth in terms of bauxite reserves found after Odisha (~70 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (18 per cent), and Gujarat (7 per cent). Maharashtra too...
A management level talk is on the cards between the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) and of the Noranda Bauxite Company executives in St Ann later this week to review and discuss the proposed redundancy packages for some shop-floor workers. Earlier this year, more than 30 workers were laid off by Noranda Bauxite, on the ground financial insolvency. The UAWU representing 22 of the laid-off workers had been lobbying for the company to reinstate the employees. Some workers have since indicated that they would prefer if their positions are made redundant. However, it is learnt from reliable sources in the industry that the employees are not happy with the proposed redundancy packages. Meanwhile, the UAWU is said to be continuing to lobby for the other Noranda workers to be...
Australian miner Iron Mountain Mining Limited announced late last week that it has discovered “extensive large-scale” deposits of bauxite in the Solomon Islands. The firm made the discovery in the course of its exploration at the Nendo Bauxite Project in Temotu Province. According to the firm, the results of a comprehensive auger drilling and pit sampling program show an outcropping of high-quality bauxite in an area 7-1/2 miles by 1-1/4 mile, but the outcropping could extend further to the east pending the results of further testing. The quality of the samples is consistent, the firm goes on, and is highly pure, lacking a significant amount of impurities and radioactive silica. As a result, the firm says that there is a good chance that there are large areas of high-grade direct shipping...
