Mozambique plans to invest around USD 126 million in a solar power plant to supply electricity to mining companies in Gaza Province, southern Mozambique, according to state news agency AIM. Provincial governor Alfeu Cuna announced the plan at the Conference on Adding Value to Mineral Resources (CAVAME-d 2026) in Nacala. The project aims to strengthen electricity supply for mining operations and industries linked to mineral processing. Gaza Province has heavy mineral sands deposits at Chibuto and limestone at Mabalane. The government is also planning mineral processing facilities in Mabalane and Mapai, where limestone deposits have been identified. Other mineral resources in the province could support cement production and related industries. Explore the production, demand and consumption...
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...
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Zavia Mayne, the Jamaica Labour Party's caretaker/candidate for South West St Ann, is pressing the Government to revisit bauxite mining operations in St Ann and other sections of Jamaica in light of the issues associated with the current practice of extracting the ore. "We support bauxite mining and the benefits that the country has derived from it. However, mining operations carry very serious social, economic and health issues that have gone unnoticed for in excess of 50 years. "The current discussions on the defining of the boundaries of the Cockpit Country and the discussions on whether bauxite mining ought to be allowed to take place in that region should be accompanied by a review of the effects of bauxite mining on rural communities," Mayne said. Mayne believes the Government...
A Bauxite Mining Community Advisory Group (BMCAG) has been established as an initiative of Bauxite Alumina Joint Ventures (BAJV) and Bauxite Resources Limited, to develop the Felicitas and Fortuna bauxite mining projects North of Wundowie. The Fortuna Project is 100 per cent owned by BRL, has recently completed a scoping study and is undertaking follow-up studies in relation to obtaining port access required for direct shipment of bauxite. The Felicitas Project is being developed by BAJV, in which BRL is a partner, and is currently in feasibility stage. The Felicitas Project has a resource of approximately 230 million tonnes of bauxite and the Fortuna Project has a resource of 40 million tonnes of bauxite. Both projects offer significant benefits for the local community including local...
The continued lagged impact of the drought which prevailed last summer has been blamed for the poor performance of the Jamaican economy during fiscal year 2014-15, with the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) estimating expansion of a mere 0.1 per cent. The performance was largely driven by a decline in agriculture, which contracted by 0.4 per cent for the full year and fell by 0.5 per cent during the period January to March 2015. In the half-year period before the drought in June and July, agriculture had expanded by 17 per cent. PIOJ Director General Colin Bullock suggested that major infrastructure projects have to be advanced both to enhance growth and to ensure that adverse shocks do not as easily make growth approximate zero per cent. Bullock reported that for the period January to...
After the uproar about supposed illegal mining in the Cockpit Country, a source in Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Partnership clarifies that they were not mining. However, they were drilling in the area to check feasibility of mining in future. Noranda has a Special Exclusive Prospecting License (SEPL) which allows it to "enter and prospect on any land for any minerals". Exercising that right, the company has been drilling to depths of five metres to test the quantity and quality of ore present in the area. Based on the findings of the initial survey, the company will decide whether to approach the Jamaican Government for mining license. It is rumored that Noranda was caught building a road at the disputed site near the Cockpit Country outer boundary. The road is expected to be some 700-feet...
Queensland Bauxite has committing to a significant drilling program at its flagship South Johnstone project near Innisfail in Queensland and has encountered new bauxite in areas not explored before. The project has an overall massive exploration target area of between 193 million tonnes and 405 million tonnes. Current drilling to date is still only a small sub-set of that area. The exploration target is being confirmed by targeted regional drilling confirming the extensive bauxite throughout the region within the 250 sq. km Atherton Basalt that covers the majority of the South Johnstone tenement area. This drilling is looking to give a big bump to the current JORC Indicated Resource which would underpin a straightforward DSO mining and export operation development from the project....
A Fiji opposition MP says a law should be put in place to limit the amount of bauxite that can be shipped out of the country. The SODELPA MP Mosese Bulitavu presented a petition to parliament last week, calling on the Government to handover royalties to landowners at the Nawailevu bauxite mine. The Chinese company Aurum Exploration Limited has nearly completed mining at the site which has produced almost 1 million tonnes of bauxite. Mr Bulitavu says they've discovered that there is no limit on bauxite exports. "There should be a law, because it's dealing with soil and rock that will not be returned back to Fiji. It's an environmental issue so there has to be a stop in regards to the limit of things that you can take out of Fiji." The Lands and Mineral Resources Minister Mereseini Vuniwaqa...
The Solomon Islands government says a limited shipment of stockpiled bauxite extracted from Rennell Island can be exported by PT Mega Bingtang Borneo. Two weeks ago the government cancelled the company's mining lease and prospecting licence for failing to meet its conditions. And it placed a hold on the bauxite that the company has been stockpiling from a pit in West Rennell since last year. Now the government says exporting the bauxite is in the best interests of stakeholders, including the landowners and the government. The government will impose a 20 percent export duty on the shipments, and the export permit shall only apply for the current stockpile.
Bauxite Resources Limited has issued a dispute notice to Yankuang Resources Pty Limited (YRPL) pursuant to the terms of the Joint Venture Resource Agreement (JRVA) and the Alumina Refinery Joint Venture Agreement (ARJVA). The disputes relate to: (a) the differing views as to how to interpret the terms of the JRVA and ARJVA given that the parties cannot agree on the Annual Program and annual budget for 2015/16, specifically what Annual Program the Manager is required to adopt as governing the activities and expenditure of the joint ventures until such time as the dispute between the parties can be resolved; and (b) the interpretation of the obligations of the parties under the ARJVA to approve an Annual Program and budget which is designed to see a full Refinery BFS completed by the...
As per section 23C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 state governments have been empowered to make rules for prevention of illegal mining and for purposes connected therewith. Therefore, matters relating to regulation and control of illegal mining, etc are all matters which lie in the domain of state governments. However, the Ministry of Mines in co-ordination with State Governments has taken the following steps to curb and check illegal mining in the Country: (i) Regular monitoring of framing of rules by the State Governments to control illegal mining as per Section 23C of MMDR Act (so far 20 States have framed the rules under section 23C of MMDR Act, 1957 to curb illegal mining); (ii) Regular monitoring of setting up of Task Forces at State and District...
The Naita land owning unit of Lekutu, Bua to date received a total premium of $200,000 from bauxite mining works on their land. Lekutu landowner Tevita Raiova said the premiums covered the roads, land lease and bauxite ore extracted from their land. Mr Raiova confirmed they were yet to receive royalties for rocks and soil, adding that they were happy with the premiums received so far. He said they had an understanding with the Ministry of Lands regarding the royalty for soil and rocks, however, they were informed by the ministry that they (ministry) were still working on a formula for the distribution of royalty monies.
Four shipments of bauxite have been shipped out by Asia Pacific Investment Development appointed Bintan Mining SI Limited from its Rennell operations according to custom reports. A total of $1.2 million has been paid as export duty to the government for the China bound shipment dispatched in February. Bintan SI Limited was appointed by APID to carry out the mining operations while the latter held the mining lease and there are valid records to prove they have paid a royalty of $342,567 to landowners last month. Since the landowners do not have a bank account, the money is held at the Central Bank. According to the documents, a total sum of $1.6 million per year has to be paid to Renbel Province for mining operations which include business license and other fees. A spokesperson from APID...
Metro Mining has appointed the former Chairman for Traxys China and Comalco executive Norman Ting to assist with marketing of the Bauxite Hills Project on Cape York, north of Weipa to alumina refineries. Ting has over thirty years of experience and contacts in Asia trading bauxite to fall back on which is useful as Metro Mining positions it Bauxite Hills project to commence production in 2016. Bauxite is projected to be supply challenged within two years given the ban by Indonesia on export of unprocessed minerals which caught bauxite in its net. Providing a vast opportunity for Bauxite Hills, with China's Xinfa Group sitting on a 7.8% shareholding and also assisting in finding off takers for bauxite to move the advanced project into production. The Mine Plan includes a JORC Ore Reserve,...
Rio Tinto plans to expand its bauxite operations and would be reviewing the feasibility study for South of Embley, in Queensland later this year. The South of Embley project will allow Rio to use an existing mining lease to expand its bauxite mining to a location south to its Weipa operations. The company will also be investing in infrastructural developments to support the business operations including power station, processing plant, warehouses, workshops, barge and ferry facilities and ship loading facilities. According to Walsh, this project will bring an expansion in the field of seaborne bauxite which will increase Rio’s volumes by about 50% in a market that generated 44% earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margins on a free-on-board basis last year.
GMDC or Gujrat Mineral Development Corporation engaged in exploration and development of mineral resources like bauxite rose 1.24% to INR 97.95 at 11:56 IST on BSE, after 0.44% equity changed hands in a bulk deal on the BSE on 8th May 2015. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 7 May 2015, falling 17.13% compared with 6.72% fall in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 19.88% as against Sensex's 7.38% fall. GMDC's net profit fell 3.2% to INR 79.68 crore on 12.2% rise in net sales to INR 326.37 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. As on 31 March 2015, the Gujarat state government held 74% stake in GMDC.
Public consultations will be held soon on the determination of the fair share of royalty to be paid to the Nawailevu landowners where bauxite mining is currently underway. This has been confirmed by Lands and Mineral Resources Minister Mereseini Vuniwaqa following questions raised by SODELPA parliamentarians on the payment for landowners. Opposition MP Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu questioned Vuniwaqa why the royalty payments have not been made. Vuniwaqa says the royalty payment is being held in trust with the Mineral Resources Department until the fair share is determined after the consultations as stated in the constitution. She also highlighted that for the Nawailevu bauxite mine, Aurum Exploration Fiji Limited has paid the premium and rent payable for the surface lease, lease and premium...
The Solomon Islands Government is threatening to cancel a company's lease to mine bauxite on Rennell Island. It would be the second such cancellation after the government last week withdrew the lease of PT Mega Bingtang Borneo for its failure to meet the conditions laid down by the Mines and Minerals Board. Now Asia Pacific Investment Development Ltd has been given 14 days to respond to the government's concerns or lose its lease. The government says its mining ministry has faced heavy criticism since the leases were issued last year under the previous administration. It says the lease decisions will end ongoing confusion about the legitimacy of the companies' operations on Rennell Island. The government says it will now negotiate with the company for royalties payments on the three...
Timothy O’Driscoll has been promising the reopening of the Alpart alumina refinery ever since he took over as managing director in 2009. Although there is still an expected 18-19 months time for that dream to be realized, last Thursday there was a glimmer of hope with the visit of Phillip Paulwell. The Mining minister got a rare walkthrough of Alpart, the mining operations as well as Port Kaiser that is being prepared for bauxite shipment in July. While the refinery plans to reopen, the mining and stockpiling operations of fresh bauxite have begun in March. Under a recent agreement between the Jamaican Government and Alpart’s Russia-based company Rusal, two million tons of raw bauxite will be exported to Russia bringing home revenue US $60 million. Igor Dorofeev, country manager for UC...
Now that it has completed the expansion of its port in Discovery Bay, St Ann, Noranda Aluminum Holding is looking at boosting bauxite exports from Jamaica. Its current lease gives it room to sell at least an additional 400,000 tonnes of bauxite each year, but the company suggested that it might go after even greater tonnage. "Although the economics of this investment (the US$11-million port expansion project) are supported by the savings in shipping costs, the project also provides the opportunity to increase our third-party bauxite volume based on demand at a sufficient price and approval by the government of Jamaica," said Noranda in its filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The mining company shipped 1.24 million tonnes of bauxite during the three months to March...
