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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Australian Bauxite Ltd announced that it has completed the first sale of 5,000 tonnes non-metallurgical grade bauxite from its Bald Hill mine operations in Tasmania to an unknown buyer for use in the cement and fertiliser markets. The sale is significant, not only because it is rare to hear of deals in the cement-grade market, but because the company cited a higher price for non-met supply. The move on the part of Australian Bauxite indicates at the company's growing focus towards the cement and fertiliser markets. Non-met bauxite applications cover about 10 per cent of Australia’s bauxite output.
Tasmania's newest miner has locked in its maiden shipment after losing $1.04 million last year. Australian Bauxite Limited has had its first 40,000 tonne shipment from its Bald Hill Mine, near Campbell Town, ready since early December. However, the price crashed and a sale deal did not proceed. On Tuesday, it announced a maiden shipment, with an initial cargo of 5000 tonnes to go in the last week of April. "The customer is seeking a second, larger shipment of 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes once stockpile sites in the receiving port are approved," the company told the ASX. "This is planned to occur within two months." It said the sale price was ‘’satisfactorily profitable,’’ but the amount was ‘’commercial in confidence’’. Australian Bauxite chairman and former Tasmanian premier Paul Lennon...
Pahang law enforcement agencies along with Pahang police will continue with operations on bauxite mining at nine checkpoints in line with the extension of the mining moratorium period. State police chief Sharifuddin Ab Ghani said the checkpoints which operated 24 hours a day were to ensure that only lorries with bauxite from the existing storage facilities with export permit were allowed to go to the port. "The checkpoint operations will also involve other law enforcement agencies such as the Land and Mines Department, Road Transport Department and the Land Public Transport Commission," he said when contacted in Kuantan on Monday this week. Sharifuddin said the locations of the checkpoints were along the main route to the port, namely Bukit Kuantan, Tanjung Pasir, Kampung Padang, Taman...
Mining giant Rio Tinto is flagging job cuts at its Weipa bauxite operations. The company has not revealed exact numbers yet, but has written to all personnel, warning them of job losses as part of a review to cut costs because of falling aluminium prices and competition. The operation employs 1400 staff and contractors. It is not expected to impact the separate $2.6 billion South of Embley expansion, now known as Amrun. Construction has started on the extension with up to 1100 people to be employed at its peak over three years. Many of the current staff are expected to move to the new operation. Weipa bauxite operations general manager Gareth Manderson told staff they “need to transform our business during 2016 in order to build resilience irrespective of market cycle”. “The work we...
Rising levels of illegal mining in India is seeing the government implement space technologies in an effort combat the issue. Each state was also asked to gather information on past illegal mining activities of minerals like bauxite and other metal ores, and methods used to check them. Balvinder Kumar, India’s mines secretary, said, mapping of mines by satellite will begin with major metals such as gold and iron ore, gradually expanding to include sand and limestone – where the problem is more prevalent. In September 2015 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the use of space technology to prevent illegal mining activities. “Once fully implemented, the move will bring about transformation in the Indian mining industry. We have identified large chunks of illegal mining in many...
Pahang federal government’s decision to extend the moratorium on bauxite mining by three more months is viewed as a move in the right direction for the people’s well-being. Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob welcomed the decision and thanked the federal government for taking the move. “It is the best decision for the wellbeing of the people who must always come first,” he said in a text message to the media in Kuantan yesterday evening. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar yesterday announced the three-month moratarium on bauxite mining in Kuantan which was supposed to end on April 15, would be extended by three more months. The extension was to enable, among others, the existing bauxite stockpile of almost four million tonnes to be cleared or exported. Stop...
Australian bauxite developer Metro Mining has submitted environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Bauxite Hills project in Cape York to the Queensland Government Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (DEHP). The company said that the latest move marks the commencement of the environmental assessment of the project by the government. Under the approval process, DEHP and relevant referral agencies will assess the adequacy of the statement in response to the government prescribed terms of reference (TOR). In its EIS submission, Metro Mining is seeking approval to develop a five million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) direct shipping ore (DSO) mine at the project. "Given the care that has been invested in the project design, we are confident that all relevant environmental issues have...
In a major blow to India's Anrak Aluminium Limited, the Andhra Pradesh government has issued orders for cancellation of bauxite supply agreement made between APMDC (AP Mining Development Corporation) Limited and Anrak Aluminium Limited (AAL). The decision has now raised a question mark on production from AAL which has completed construction of its alumina refinery at a cost of nearly INR 7,000 crore at Rachapalli in Makavarapalem Mandal in Visakhapatnam district nearly three years ago. In 2007, the then YS Rajasekhar Reddy government had entered into an MoU with the government of Ras Al Khaimah (one of the emirates of UAE) for mining about 224 million tonnes of bauxite from the Jerrela Group of deposits in Vizag. Consequent to the MoU, the government of Ras Al Khaimah formed Anrak...
The Malaysian bauxite export ban has been extended by an additional three months to July 15, 2016. The extension was announced Friday, last week, by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar at a press conference. In announcing the ban, Dr Wan Junaidi made reference to an estimated 29kt of bauxite at the port, 1.3 million tonnes outside the port and 2.3 million tonnes “at the mining site”, totalling around 4 million tonnes yet to be exported. The original bauxite export ban came into force on January 15 this year, the three-month moratorium called for a halt to bauxite mining activities to address industry concerns such as pollution, a lack of regulations as well as excessive extraction by operators. According to The Bauxite Index, the ban is...
ASX-listed Metallica Minerals has struck a heads of agreement (HoA) with the operator of the nearby Hey Point bauxite mine to provide logistical services for the Urquhart bauxite project, in Cape York. The agreement would see direct shipping bauxite from the Urquhart mine delivered to export vessels through the approved Hey Point load-out facility, some 15 km away. The HoA included capped contracting rates over the projected life of the project, as well as access to the Hey Point load-out facility for transshipping bauxite. The agreement would form the basis of a full binding service contract and a binding access agreement, which was targeted for August this year. “As a bulk commodity operation, the economics of the Urquhart bauxite project are closely tied to the logistics of delivering...
Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh wants the three-month moratorium on bauxite mining in the state be extended until a more comprehensive standard operating procedure (SOP) is put into place. Fuziah also urged that existing licences for bauxite mining activities be cancelled and new applications be made compulsory. This way, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) must also be made mandatory as one of the requirements for a successful application, she said. Citing the moratorium, which will end come April 15, Fuziah said Kuantan residents were still unsure of their fates. “The SOP previously mentioned by various quarters, including the Pahang state government, is still hazy – it doesn't include solutions to all aspects of pollution,” she said. Recalling bauxite activities which took place before...
The Mozambican government is concerned at the lack of a market for the bauxite mined in the central province of Manica.Last year, Manica produced 4,985 tonnes of bauxite, a 47 per cent increase on the 3,386 tonnes produced in 2014. But much of this production remains unsold because of the difficulties in finding a market, inside or outside the country. The Manica Provincial Director of Economy and Finance, Virgulino Nhate, speaking at a meeting of the provincial Development Observatory said that the main potential buyer is Zambia - but for reasons that Nhate did not know, Zambian interest in Manica bauxite has declined sharply. “We have a lot of bauxite in the province”, said Nhate. “Zambia used to buy much of this product. But in recent years it has been buying in very small quantities,...
Alcoa, the world’s largest bauxite miner, today announced that Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC) has secured multiple bauxite supply contracts valued at more than $350 million over the next two years. Under the contracts, the Company will supply bauxite to external customers from three of its global mines as it continues to successfully build its third-party bauxite business. The new contracts cover customers in China, Europe and Brazil. “With our quality resources and deep technical expertise, we are well positioned to deliver a stable supply of bauxite to customers across the global alumina industry,” said Garret Dixon, president of Alcoa Mining. “Our strategy is to profitably grow our third-party bauxite sales and these contracts demonstrate that we are well on track.” Alcoa is...
Key aluminium ingredient bauxite is shaping up as China's newest obsession in its mission to secure raw materials and once again minerals-rich Australia is a major target. China's investment in Australia's mining industry plunged, along with the global commodities rout, dropping in 2015 to the lowest since 2008 as surging supplies created gluts of materials including oil and iron ore. It's a different story unfolding for bauxite, with a potential step up in interest led by Aluminium Corp of China, known as Chinalco, which confirmed it's looking at investing in projects in Australia. Demand in China for the aluminium needed in air conditioning units to airliners will rise by almost a third by 2020, according to Morgan Stanley, while the nation's supplies of adequate raw materials to...
India’s Supreme Court ruled on April 1, Friday last week, that it could not issue an order for bauxite mining to begin in Odisha without getting input from local governments and other stakeholders in the area. The court required that the Odisha Mining Corporation add the fourteen gram sabhas (local councils) that objected to the move as parties to the suit. The firm approached the councils anew in order to seek permission to conduct mining in the bauxite-rich Niyamgiri hills. The controversy began in 2010 when Odisha Mining and Vedanta formed a joint venture to seek government approval to conduct operations in Niyamgiri hills. The move led to protests by the local Kondh tribal people, who established a committee to determine whether the joint venture complied with the relevant...
The Pahang Mining Operators Association (PPMNP) said Tuesday that it has submitted standard operating procedure proposals on bauxite mining to Pahang’s Mentri Besar (chief executive) and Kuantan Port authorities, but they have yet to receive a response. PPMNP’s vice president, Yap Soon Huat, explained further that association miners have also set up pollution-prevention equipment at the port of Kemaman and have sent proposals to the government to do the same at Kuantan’s port. “We think the Kuantan Port should have such facilities too but we have not heard from them. We also wrote to the Mentri Besar to request a dialogue but have not received a reply from his office,” said Yap in a meeting with the Coalition for Action Against Bauxite Pollution. Although the Coalition argued that the...
Bauxite exporters in India are clamouring for removal of export duty on the ore similar to a cut in duty for iron ore in the budget. Higher duties have led to a sharp fall in India's share in the export market in recent years with Australia and Malaysia increasing their share. "We are losing out to countries like Malaysia and Australia when it comes to exports to China. The duty cut on bauxite ore in the recent budget from 20 per cent to 15 per cent which is too little to resuscitate the bauxite export industry which is already battling headwinds from the meltdown in the global commodity markets. It should be reduced to zero like in the case of iron ore," C K Joshi chairman Gujmin Industry Association said. China produces and consumes nearly half of world's aluminium and is dependent on...
At a time when 70 per cent aluminium companies world over have reported loss and the aluminium industry is reeling under heavy pressure due to sluggish international market, National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a Govt of India PSU, has remained profitable all through by successfully handling the market downturn by focusing on its bauxite mining and alumina refining arm, besides effecting several cost reduction measures, particularly in metal production. In the process, the aluminium major has registered an all-time high production of 63,40,142 tonnes of bauxite in 2015-16 fiscal i.e. 10.47 per cent higher, and 19,53,000 tonnes of alumina i.e. 5.51 per cent higher than the corresponding figures of the previous fiscal. "These are the highest-ever production figures since inception of...
