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 mining company Queensland Bauxite has opened negotiations with Australian Infrastructure Developments (AID) to explore options for the transport of the former’s bauxite production in New South Wales. AID, a freight project developer, is proposing to build a national freight infrastructure connecting the country’s western inland corridor at Moree to Glen Innes, where it would link up with the Great Northern Railway. From Glen Innes, the line would proceed to the Port of Yamba. Queensland Bauxite’s New South Wales bauxite tenement is nearly adjacent to the proposed location of AID’s new line. Yesterday Queensland Bauxite indicated that the Pacific West link proposed by AID would likely make the New South Wales bauxite operation economically viable. In addition, Queensland Bauxite...
The three-month moratorium on bauxite mining in Pahang may be extended if authorities could not meet the terms by its April 15 deadline. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said he was satisfied with the progress of stockpiles clearing at the Kuantan Port, but will make another assessment at the end of March. Rehabilitation Pahang's bauxite mining areas can be rehabilitated within a relatively short period of two years if proper techniques are used to restore the land's soil and mineral structure, according to Malaysian Stormwater Organisation vice-president Datuk Ahmad Fuad Embi. Asked to comment on reports that it would take many years to rehabilitate the bauxite mines in Pahang, Fuad, who was there to atted a forum, replied: "I believe...
Malaysia’s National Treasures Protection Society (Peka) Pahang chapter president Khaidir Ahmad says that the ongoing bauxite moratorium should be extended due to the failure of the Kuantan port authority to meet the February 15th deadline for clearing the port of stockpiled bauxite. Runoff from the stockpiled bauxite led to serious pollution of Kuantan’s harbor waters. “The first phase of moratorium is to clear all the stockpiles at the port area, but they have only cleared half of it,” Khaidir told a local news outlet. “That’s why we have no confidence that they will meet the target for the second phase. If they cannot meet the dateline, they will have to extend [the moratorium] for another three months. But we will see what the minister says when he makes an assessment on the ground,”...
ASX-listed Queensland Bauxite has started discussions with freight project developer Australian Infrastructure Developments (AID) regarding transport options for its New South Wales bauxite deposits. AID was proposing to build a national freight infrastructure network providing a direct and unconstrained link connecting the western inland corridor at Moree with the Great Northern Railway at Glen Innes, and from there to the Port of Yamba. The company’s New South Wales bauxite tenement lies close to a section of the proposed new rail line. Queensland Bauxite said on Thursday that the proposed Pacific West rail link was anticipated to create a viable bauxite export operation from the New South Wales bauxite project. Meanwhile, Queensland Bauxite has told shareholders that the Queensland...
An environmental group has casted doubts on whether Pahang authorities would meet the terms of the ongoing bauxite moratorium to tackle pollution caused by rampant mining in the state for over a year. National Treasures Protection Society (Peka) Pahang chapter president Khaidir Ahmad said the government should consider extending the moratorium for another three months, following the failure of Kuantan port authorities to meet the phase one dateline, which ended on February 15. The moratorium began on January 15. The first month of the moratorium should see all stockpiles cleared from the port, which had been the main cause of sea pollution, where the waters off Kuantan turned red. "The first phase of moratorium is to clear all the stockpiles at the port area, but they have only cleared...
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said he will meet Kuantan officials this Friday, February 26, to obtain the latest information over the state’s efforts to clean up the city after it was affected by the rampant bauxite mining activity. “I will get all relevant information on Friday and if you (the media) are willing to join me there, I will hold a press conference immediately after to inform of what’s latest there,” Wan Junaidi said recently at a news conference. When asked about the condition of air quality there, Wan Junaidi said he was yet to receive information on that but stressed that the government was seriously looking at ensuring air quality in the state did not deteriorate to a dangerous level. “Just like during the haze...
China's appetite for bauxite is growing bigger by the day. According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs on February 22, China imported 5,302,809 mt of the aluminium ore in January, up 105 per cent from the corresponding period previous year. Malaysia ranked first among the countries supplying bauxite to China. The shipments were cleared before the moratorium on bauxite mining started in Kuantan port area in Pahang on January 15. Malaysia shipped around 2,159,697 mt of bauxite to China, up 530 per cent year-on-year. Bauxite imports from Australia dipped 20 per cent y-o-y and amounted to 1,198,537 mt, while supply from India grew 93% y-o-y during the period under review. China imported 1,118,188 mt of the aluminium ore from India in January 2016.
Felda (Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad) will consider the form of assistance to be given to its settlers involved in bauxite mining after the three-month moratorium ends in April. Its chairperson Mohd Isa Abdul Samad said Felda needed to wait for the decision on whether the mining activities should continue with new guidelines or otherwise. “It is still too premature to make any plans to help the settlers whose income are affected by the moratorium. “We do not know yet if the bauxite mining will be continued or not, only then we can see how to help the settlers," he said when contacted by Bernama in Kuantan today. Hence he urged the affected settlers to be patient throughout the temporary halt period while the government identified new guidelines that are effective in carrying out...
Shanxi Province, one of China’s major alumina producing regions, discovered vast bauxite resources in 2015, according to a spokesperson of the local Ministry of Land & Resources. The province discovered 30 million tonnes of bauxite resources during 2015, bringing total discovery of the aluminum smelting mineral resources to 324 million tonnes, according to the source.
Indonesia could change rules that ban exports of unprocessed minerals including nickel ore and bauxite, the country's energy minister said on Friday last week, referring to a revision of the country's mining law targeted for completion this year. "There could indeed be a relaxation of the ore (export ban) if the revision of the mining law allows it," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman said at a recent event. The mining law review will need to be approved by both the government and parliament, Said added. Indonesia was the world's top exporter of nickel ore until 2014 when the government banned all unprocessed ore exports.
A temporary ban on bauxite mining would not be enough to remedy the long-term damage it caused, academics were quoted as saying in a report. They opined that the damage might be harder to fix, even if a moratorium on bauxite mining resulted in improvements in the environment. United Nations University research fellow Professor Dr Jamal Hisham Hashim was quoted as saying the mining areas needed rehabilitation with measures like refilling mines, and repairing damage to roads and neighbourhoods near the mines. Speaking at a forum on sustainable bauxite mining at Universiti Malaya yesterday, he said this was unlikely to be done by illegal miners. "Rehabilitation isn't likely, especially not by illegal miners. They can leave it to the land owners to clean up the mess," he was quoted as saying...
The International Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium Society has announced that the fifth IBAAS International symposium (IBAAS-2016) will be held in Goa, India during September 26 - 28, 2016. The theme of the IBAAS-2016 symposium is “Aluminium Industry- The Evolving Asia-Pacific Story”. The first day of the Symposium is entirely devoted to Energy Reduction in Aluminium Smelting Industry and is organized jointly with the Indian Institute of Metals. The symposium organizing committee is formulating a world class program focusing on key topics and issues in the bauxite, alumina, non-metallurgical applications of bauxite and its derivatives, aluminium and aluminium downstream industry and secondary sectors. Objectives of the Symposium: • Develop a Road Map for Aluminium Smelters in India • Provide...
A general strike in Guinea that began on Monday, February 15, will not curb production of bauxite, the country's top producer Guinea Bauxite Company (CBG) said on Tuesday. The miners, however, have announced their support for a nationwide protest against lowering of wages and high fuel prices. Guinea holds nearly a third of the world's reserves of bauxite, a metal used to make aluminium, and currently produces around 18 million tonnes a year. Workers at CBG, Africa's biggest bauxite mining company, received a notice from their union asking them to show solidarity for the nationwide strike demanding wage hike and lowering of fuel prices. "The CBG and Guinea Gold Corporation (AngloGold Ashanti ) joined the movement," Mamady Mansaré, general secretary of the National Confederation of Workers...
It may be early yet, but there seems to be signs of revival in big ticket investment in Odisha's aluminium sector. If recent announcements are anything to go by, the state, home to more than half of India's bauxite reserves, is poised to attract investment worth well over INR 30,000 crore in the next few years. While engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said it is hopeful of getting final clearances for its estimated INR 12,000 crore greenfield refinery project, public sector major National Auminium Company (Nalco) said on Monday it has committed INR 20,550 crore for expanding its alumina refinery at Damanjodi and setting up an aluminium park at Angul. Natural resources giant Vedanta Ltd also said it will sign a MoU with Odisha for an aluminium park, expected to garner investments of...
Government of Malaysia is keeping tabs on the limit of bauxite stored at the Kuantan Port to avoid any additional amount of stockpile in the area. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said they have not received any report of more bauxite there than the stockpile limit. “We will not allow any additional stockpile and we will monitor it closely,” he said recently after attending the Bentong MCA Chinese New Year Open House. It has been reported that only Pakamatic (Paka) type of lorries, or municipal rubbish compactor lorries, may be used to carry bauxite ore after April when the three-month moratorium on bauxite mining ends. Liow Tiong Lai said the rule was one of the bauxite transport guidelines by the ministry in order to avoid pollution problems from spillage. “We have already...
Profit or no profit, mining giant Rio Tinto remains committed to the $2.6 billion Amrun bauxite mine expansion near Weipa. And for that, the conglomerate is considering a joint venture partner that would help it fund the wholly owned project. It is known from the company sources that construction work at the site has already started. It will provide around average 600 jobs over three years, peaking at 1100. Rio’s profits have been falling 51 per cent to $6.3 billion and accessing capital for major investments has been becoming tougher of late. Nevertheless, the company wants to go ahead with the extension. Rio chief executive Sam Walsh said Chinese investment in Amrun was under consideration. It was most likely to be state-owned Chinalco, Rio Tinto’s biggest shareholder with a 9.9 per...
UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, announces its operating results for the fourth quarter 2015 (“4Q15”) and full year 2015 (“12M15”). During the fourth quarter of 2015, bauxite and nepheline ores production totalled 2,850 thousand tonnes (-13.4% QoQ) and 952 thousand tonnes (-9.6% QoQ), respectively. Bauxite production volumes decline was largely attributable to seasonal factors in Russia where volumes were down QoQ due to weather conditions. In advance of the winter season, inventories were built in 3Q15 to keep supplies stable at Group aluminium smelters. International assets bauxite production totalled 1,713 thousand tonnes (-1.4% QoQ). Output at Windalco and Bauxite Company of Guyana were lower QoQ due to seasonal planned repairs and destocking. For the full year 2015,...
Minister in charge of mining, Phillip Paulwell, has dismissed speculation that the bankruptcy filing by Noranda Bauxite’s parent company in the United States is in any way related to the recent arbitration ruling in favour of the Jamaican Government’s right to be paid the full bauxite levy that the company owes. Paulwell, in a release late Tuesday, pointed out that Noranda has been facing challenges with its upstream and downstream operations for some time. “The bauxite levy is minuscule compared to the external liabilities of the company, its refining operations, as well as depressed market demand,” he argued. The Jamaican Government owns roughly half of the assets of Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Partners, which is managed and operated by Noranda Bauxite Limited, a subsidiary of parent...
