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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Unreliable power supply remains a key challenge to the sustainability of the mining industry in Ghana, Mr Kwame Addo Kufuor, the President of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, has said. Speaking at the opening session of the three-day 11th West African Mining and Power Conference in Accra, Mr Kufuor said the unstable power supply had led to the spending of about 20 per cent of mineral revenues on power alone. The major minerals currently being mined in commercial quantities including gold, diamond, bauxite and manganese have positioned the country as a conducive investment environment created by successive governments since 1980 and this had led to a significant inflow of the mining sector investment. “Government will continue to work at improving its facilitation role while working with all...
Rio Tinto (RIO) stock is rising 0.07% to $27.55 in afternoon trading on Thursday after the London-based mining company said demand for bauxite, a raw material used to make aluminum and alumina, is expected to gain over the next 15 years because of growing production in China. Bauxite demand is expected to be so strong that it will outpace the 4% annual increase in aluminum demand in the medium- and long-term. Chinese aluminum production capacity is set to increase by 3 million tons this year, down from 3.9 million tons last year, Bloomberg reports. Aluminum and other commodities are expected to still be challenged in the short term, but aluminum prices should improve towards the end of the decade.
The Jamaican economy grew by an estimated 0.9 per cent for the quarter to March 2016 when compared with the corresponding period last year and was the same level of expansion for fiscal year 2015/16, the Planning Institute of Jamaica reported on Wednesday. The positive outturn for the quarter largely reflected the impact of the improved global economic environment on major service industries such as hotels and restaurants, said PIOJ Director General Colin Bullock. The mining and quarrying industry contracted by 1.0 per cent, reflecting weak external demand from the major overseas customers. Total bauxite production contracted by 5.3 per cent, while crude bauxite production contracted by 12.1 per cent largely the result of financial challenges facing major United States refineries which...
China’s quest for raw materials for its aluminum smelters and alumina refineries promises to deliver a 15-year boom for exporters of bauxite, according to Rio Tinto Group, which is spending $1.9 billion to raise output. Global demand is already growing rapidly and will outpace the 4 percent-a-year lift London-based Rio forecasts for aluminum in the medium-to-longer term, Alf Barrios, chief executive officer of the producer’s aluminum unit, said in an interview posted Thursday on the company’s website. “Bauxite is a different story,” Barrios said. “China’s bauxite demand growth is forecast to be significant over the next 15 years, and it is something we are very keen to capture.” Rio’s Amrun development on Queensland’s remote Cape York peninsula, approved last year, will produce about 23...
The University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) says it is still negotiating with Noranda Jamaica Bauxite as it continues to appeal to the company to reconsider its recent layoff of more than 30 workers. The UAWU represents some of the workers who were laid off. President of the UAWU Lambert Brown says his union met with Noranda last week and is awaiting a follow-up meeting this week to discuss important issues affecting the workers who were laid off. Brown says his union wants Noranda to pay for healthcare for sick workers who were laid off. He says the UAWU wants Noranda to take back all the workers it represents who were laid off. Brown says the union still has plans to take the matter to the labour ministry if Noranda doesn't meet its demands. Earlier this year Noranda filed for...
Bauxite prices remained virtually unchanged, up 0.3% (US$0.1/dmt), to close at US$44.4/dmt for the week. Several lower ViU-priced cargos from Malaysia were recorded, with their prices balanced by a single, higher ViU cargo from Montenegro recording a CBIX (ViU-adjusted) price of US$53.7/dmt. With no further developments in Malaysia over the week, Malaysian FOB prices remain unchanged in the range US$25/dmt to US$27/dmt (unadjusted) for unwashed material and US$37/dmt for washed material. Chinese domestic alumina prices continue to tread water, with both the North and South China prices unmoved on RMB1,998/t (US$305/t including VAT) and RMB1,880/t (US$287/t including VAT) respectively. As we reported last week, industry sentiment seems to suggest Chinese alumina prices have reached a...
New Tasmanian miner Australian Bauxite Limited is making progress after hitting market problems. The company, which mines at Bald Hill, near Campbell Town, recently finalised its second sale and is working towards a much bigger third sale. It is also eyeing a large deal in the Middle East. Mining started in early 2015 and the company wanted to start shipping via Bell Bay by mid-2015. However, a wet winter slowed things down, and a weak market this year delayed the company further, with a planned first shipment abandoned. “ … the metallurgical bauxite market has remained closed to new entrants, largely because of the slowing growth in Chinese industrial production,” company chairman and former Tasmanian premier Paul Lennon said in his review of 2015 and recent developments released on...
Research Corridor has published a new research study titled “Bauxite Cement Market – Growth, Share, Opportunities, Competitive Analysis and Forecast, 2015 – 2022”. The Bauxite Cement market report studies current as well as future aspects of the Bauxite Cement Market based upon factors such as market dynamics, key ongoing trends and segmentation analysis. Apart from the above elements, the Bauxite Cement Market research report provides a 360-degree view of the Bauxite Cement industry with geographic segmentation, statistical forecast and the competitive landscape. Geographically, the Bauxite Cement Market report comprises dedicated sections centering on the regional market revenue and trends. The Bauxite Cement market has been segmented on the basis of geographic regions into North...
Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw says that Jamaica was denied $625 million in bauxite levy payments last December due to the “slackness” of the previous Government. Shaw, in closing the 2016/17 Budget Debate yesterday in Gordon House, spoke about the loss to the country when he addressed the issue involving the ailing Noranda Bauxite in St Ann, which is in discussions with the Government over waiving its levy payments following an application for bankruptcy by its US parent company in the United States. Shaw said that former Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips, “apparently allowed” the US$5 million (J$625 million) letter of credit, which was issued on behalf of Norando to pay the Government of Jamaica the company’s bauxite levy, to expire last December...
The moratorium on bauxite mining in Kuantan, Pahang, may be extended until all conditions set by the authorities are adhered to, according to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar. The New Straits Times (NST) quoted him as saying that the conditions include adherence to standard operating procedures on bauxite transportation, designated routes and management of stockpile sites. "I will present the findings to the Cabinet so that a decision can be made, the minister was quoted saying in a reply to PKR Kuantan Fuziah Salleh in Parliament yesterday. The moratorium was supposed to end last month, but was extended for another three months until July 15 to allow more time for relevant stakeholders to clear their remaining stockpiles. Wan Junaidi said...
Guinea beat Malaysia as the second largest bauxite supplier to China, marking a significant change in supplier structure. Imports of the aluminium smelting raw material look set to grow in the future, SMM predicts. Shandong Xinfa Group plans to import 2-3 million tonnes of bauxite from Guinea this year. Customs data showed China imported 900,000 tonnes of bauxite from Guinea in April, down just 4% from March. Imports from Malaysia tumbled 68.8 per cent year-on-year and 51.6 per cent month-on-month as the country has extended ban on bauxite mining by another three months. China’s bauxite imports totalled 4.41 million tonnes in April, down 5.93 per cent from a year ago and 13.8 per cent from March.
Showing that savings in the mining industry can be achieved by implementing sustainable practices, Rio Tinto has modified the design of the rear tipper truck fleet at its Weipa bauxite mine to reduce costs and fuel usage. The mine’s rear tipper trucks are fuelled by diesel and are used during the ore development process prior to mining and for production. Rio Tinto Weipa general manager, Weipa Operations, Gareth Manderson said “Understanding that diesel fuel is one of our largest operational expenses, the team looked at ways to reduce the amount of fuel our heavy equipment use.” “To better manage the speed and fuel consumption of our rear tipper fleet, operating techniques and engine fuel burn characteristics were analysed and modified leading to the installation of an ‘upper speed...
Odisha government is in the process of putting at least seven mines for auction by August, state Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallick said today. The seven mines include iron ore, manganese and a bauxite mine in Koraput district. "We are in the process of auctioning seven more mines by July-August this year. Among the mines, a bauxite mine would be auctioned in Koraput district," the minister said. Mallick's announcement of putting one bauxite mine in the auction has enhanced the hopes of Vedanta, which has been struggling to arrange raw material for its 1 mtpa refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district. The London-based aluminium major is likely to participate in the bidding process. Vedanta's alumina (refined from bauxite, the prime ore of aluminium) refinery and aluminium smelter...
Australia has been a top supplier of bauxite to refineries in the People’s Republic of China for the past several years, but the country is facing increased competition for the Chinese marketplace from Malaysia and Guinea, according to a report compiled by the Australian government’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, and Sydney’s Westpac Institutional Bank and released on Thursday. According to The China Resources Quarterly report, China imported 13.6 million metric tons of bauxite in the first quarter of 2016, up 36 per cent year-on-year, but 20 per cent less than Q4 of 2015. Imports from Australia contributed to 29 per cent of that total, or 4 million metric tons in the first quarter. While a significant contribution, it is an appreciable drop from last year’s Q1, when it...
Diversified conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is on its way to secure the Kutrumali and Sijimali bauxite deposits in Odisha, with combined reserves of over 300 million tonne. L&T holds the prospecting license (PL) over the twin deposits and is entitled to bag the mining lease (ML) under the new Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) MMDR Act. The Odisha government is sending its final compliance to the Union Mines Ministry on L&T's bid for the mines. “We have clarified to the mines ministry that there is no overlapping of the Kutrumali and Sijimali leases with any of the mines held by state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). The state government has also backed L&T's bid for ML over the deposits as they are a subsisting PL holder,” said a senior government official. L&T had...
Bauxite prices eased 1.6 per cent (US$0.7/dmt), closing Friday at US$44.2/dmt for the week. Several lower ViU-priced cargos from Malaysia contributed to the marginal decline over the week. Although Malaysian bauxite exports have resumed, mining activities have not - current exports (via Kemaman port mainly) comprise stockpiled bauxite originating from outside Kuantan port (circa 2 mln t). Malaysian FOB prices were reportedly unchanged at US$25/dmt to US$27/dmt (unadjusted) for unwashed material and US$37/dmt for washed material. Cargos from SMB’s Guinean operation continue to make an impression on the CBIX index, although reported import and export grade data for Guinean cargos do not always align. Some vessels appear to have been loaded with bauxite from different mine origins. Reporting...
Independent Queensland MP Billy Gordon and indigenous leaders said Friday, last week, the Palaszczuk (39th Premier of Queensland, Australia) government needed to do more to ensure economic development of the troubled Cape York community of Aurukun. He stressed upon the need for opening the bauxite mine there so that people had work and means for living. Mr. Gordon was briefing press about the civic reform initiatives that have been taken and being implemented in recent times to restore normalcy in this somewhat politically unstable region of Queensland. He said local leaders were right to demand greater government attention for economic development in the region. The indigenous MP said he was bewildered that the proposed Aurukun bauxite mine was “not anywhere near opening”, four years...
Metallica Minerals is looking forward to starting bauxite production by the first half of 2017. Metallica CEO, Simon Siesarewich said in a recent interview that the company is likely to have the approvals in place over the wet season 2016/17. Since that is not the right time up around Weipa to be producing a new mine, so they'll wait untill rain stops and then go into production. Metallica is an ASX listed resource company with a market cap of about $7 million or $8 million. Presently, they are focused on their direct shipping bauxite project called Urquhart Point, which is up near Weipa in northern Queensland. The benefit that Urquhart bauxite has is it does not require any infrastructure, Simon pointed out. So therefore, the construction timeframe for this project is likely to be a...
