Metro Mining Limited shipped 2.1 million wet metric tonnes (WMT) of bauxite in the third quarter of 2026, up 17 per cent from 1.8 million WMT in the previous quarter. However, shipments remained below the 2.25 million WMT recorded in Q3 2025. The Australian bauxite producer reported improved market pricing during the July–September quarter, with its delivered (CIF) price rising by 6.5 per cent to AUD 60.8 (USD 42.79) per WMT from AUD 57.1 (USD 40.18) per WMT in Q2. Site EBITDA increased to AUD 7 (USD 4.93) per WMT from AUD 4.4 (USD 3.10) per WMT. Mining and shipping operations faced maintenance work, equipment issues and channel erosion during the quarter. The company said its offshore floating terminal, Ikamba, underwent a one-week shutdown in July to replace four large hydraulic crane...
Ghana Bauxite Company Limited (GBC) has appointed Ecobank Ghana PLC to arrange up to USD 250 million in financing for its expansion programme, which aims to increase bauxite production and improve mining and logistics infrastructure. The parties signed the agreement in Accra on October 28, 2026. Ecobank will structure the proposed financing and coordinate participation from other banks and financial institutions. The package includes a term loan and a revolving credit facility to cover capital investment and working capital. The funds are expected to support investments in mining equipment, haulage capacity, materials-handling systems and other infrastructure at GBC’s Awaso operations in the Western North Region. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and...
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Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second-largest mining company, will decide within the next year on whether to expand its Weipa bauxite mining operation in Australia to help capture rising demand from China. Bauxite is “the healthiest” of the three products sold by Rio Tinto Alcan, Jacynthe Cote, chief executive officer of the company’s aluminum unit, told reporters today after a speech at the World Mining Congress in Montreal. In addition to mining bauxite, Rio Tinto Alcan refines alumina and produces aluminum. Australia’s federal government conditionally approved in May plans to expand mining and extend the life of the 50-year-old project. The Queensland facility last year produced 23.7 million metric tons of metal-grade bauxite, a source of aluminum, according to the company’s website. Rio...
A reliance on expensive, imported energy has temporarily shuttered Jamaica’s bauxite alumina industry. But foreign operators who are working there hope to slash costs and kick-start production once more. Both United Co Rusal and Alcoa are looking at alternatives to the costly oil they are forced to import to provide energy to power their operations in the Caribbean country. Their options are coal and natural gas. Coal requires huge capex for infrastructure but has lower cash costs, while gas has lower capex but higher cash costs. In the interim, around 10 million barrels of oil equivalent is imported annually by Jamaica’s bauxite and alumina industry, the government estimates. “Energy is the main problem of our entire mining sector,” told Phillip Paulwell, the country’s minister of...
As Aboriginal leaders call for their communities to become economically independent, the people of northeast Arnhem Land may soon own their own mine. At the Garma Festival held over the weekend on a Yolngu site 14km outside of Nhulunbuy, the Gumatj Aboriginal Corporation and Rio Tinto-owned Gove Operations have signed a memorandum of understanding to carry out a feasibility study for bauxite mining on Gumatj lands in northeast Arnhem Land. Should the mine prove to be commercially feasible it would be owned and operated by the Gumatj Aboriginal Corporation, something welcomed by community leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu as giving substance to a desire for self-sufficiency by allowing Aboriginal people to commercially develop their land. He said Aboriginal people wanted to have the same...
Dominican Republic exported 300,000 tons of wet bauxite in two shipments out of the port at Cabo Rojo, Pedernales (southwest) in July, a resumption expected to increase government revenue for the rest of the year and provide more jobs in the country’s poorest region. A Mines Agency (DGM) report lists 21,998 wet tons sent to America and 186,982 to China. The DGM report says a 170,000-ton shipment will be completed and sent to China by the end of August. "The resumption of bauxite exports at Pedernales has resulted in the creation of 454 new jobs in Pedernales province, since operations of the mine at Las Mercedes began in May this year," says the DGM, headed by Alexander Medina. The government agency says the work on environmental mitigation begins at the end of this month will, which will...
When the voting stops on August 19, the scorecard for Vedanta’s bauxite mining, which is currently 9-0, may well read 12-0, an emphatic rejection of state and corporate plans to mine bauxite atop the Niyam Dongar hilltop in the Kalahandi district of Odisha. Twelve tribal villages that call this mountain range home have, in all likelihood, secured their religious rights over the hill and its natural resources, including 72 million tonnes of bauxite that the $15 billion mining giant Vedanta Resources has been trying to get its hands on to convert to alumina at its neighbouring refinery. India's highest court had ordered this referendum in April, after noting that project considerations had not taken into account whether scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers had any rights...
After more than half the gram sabhas in the tribal villages opposed bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills, Vedanta Aluminium said on Monday that it will discuss the fallout with the Odhisa government soon, but will continue to operate the plant by sourcing raw material from other sources. "Our priority is to run the plant through domestic supplies of raw material. However, we will discuss the issue (of opposition to mining in the Niyamgiri hills) with the state administration soon," a company official told PTI. The one-million tonne Vedanta's alumina plant at Lanjigarh in the southern part of the mineral rich state, was reopened last fortnight after being shut for close to seven months due to shortage of key raw material bauxite and the local tribals' opposition to mining from the nearby...
LED illuminators from Raytec have significantly increased productivity at the world’s largest bauxite mine in Western Australia, in a state of the art lighting upgrade in an incredibly remote and challenging environment. The mine currently produces around 23 million tonnes of bauxite a year and was looking to improve overall efficiency by upgrading its site lighting and conveyor belt lighting. The conditions that light fittings operate under on site are harsh. They include vibration, dust, heat, heavy rain, and long running times; all of which affect the performance and life span of the illumination. Operation in these conditions can often lead to premature failure, causing production downtime during maintenance/ replacement. The challenge was to find a lighting solution that could not...
Efforts to reclaim highly degraded nature reserves across the country have born fruits following intervention by the Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund (EAMCEF). The degradation has been caused by bauxite and alluvial gold mining in areas such as Amani and Chome Nature Reserves. EAMCEF Executive Director, Mr Francis Sabuni said the impact means less pressure on water sources for parts of the country that benefit from water originating from the Eastern Arc Mountains. Shebomeza village chairman, Stanslaus Njovu, told this reporter that their area was evaded by illegal gold miners in 2003. "There were thousands of miners and small business people who set base here. The water source was destroyed plus the surrounding environment," he said. He said Sakale village was the most...
With hopes of mining bauxite in Niymagiri hills virtually dashed, Vedanta Aluminum Limited (VAL) is now eyeing laterite deposits in Rayagada district for raw material for its Lanjigarh refinery. The company sought permission for extracting laterite deposits at Sagabari, Panabara and Arotokoni villages spread over 113 hectare under Kashipur block of Rayagada in. The deputy director of mines, Koraput, on Friday forwarded VAL's application and its preliminary report to the Rayagada administration. Mining experts said laterite soil carries 20 to 25% bauxite. "If the company gets the government nod to extract laterite deposits, its bauxite problem could be sorted out to some extent. The whole process will take a few months," said mining officer (Koraput) S P Nanda. Rayagada collector Sashi...
The traditional classroom setting doesn't fit all students' needs. That is why the Bauxite School District has started a charter school with an individualized learning approach. When school starts back on August 19, Bauxite will have an elementary school, middle school and two high schools. Miner Academy is named for the mining town of bauxite. The school is at the main high school in the former administration building. By the first day of school, it will be ready for 50 students in K-12th grade. The only books here are virtual, on the World Wide Web. Tyler Tarver and Kimberly Arnold take a Channel Seven crew on a tour, "Tables will be lined up around here and we will have desktops, laptops and TV's as well." The rooms will not be assigned to a specific teacher or subject. Each student...
As the ninth successive gram sabha rejected mining in Niyamgiri hills on Thursday, the Congress chose to rub salt onto the wounds of an embarrassed Naveen Patnaik Government with Union Minister Srikant Jena demanding an apology from the Chief Minister. With all the villages going against mining, the Congress said the verdict of the people has exposed the lie of the Biju Janata Dal Government. Jena, the Union Fertilizer and Chemical Minister, alleged that the BJD Government had submitted a false affidavit before the Supreme Court stating that it had secured the consent of the palli sabhas before deciding in favour of mining in the hills. “The decision for bauxite mining was forced on the tribal villages and a false affidavit was submitted to the apex court while the Ministry of Environment...
With more than half the gram sabhas in Orissa's Rayagada and Kalahandi districts opposing bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd is working on a two-pronged back-up plan to source the key raw material. The company is understood to have identified 25-26 small closed mines owned by private miners, and has requested that it be given the lease to mine from them. In particular, it has zeroed in on the bauxite mine at Amarkantak in Rayagada district close to Niyamgiri. Alternatively, it has suggested the state government hand over these mines to the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC). The company believes the state is obliged to provide other sites to OMC since Vedanta's MoU with OMC is for the supply of 150 million tonnes of bauxite, of which only 70 mt was to be supplied...
Congress leaders on Thursday congratulated the Dangaria Kandha tribes of Kalahandi and Rayagada districts of Odisha for their united stand against the proposed bauxite mining plan atop Niyamgiri Hills for Vedanta. The praise on the particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) was showered at the Congress’s farmers rally held in Bhawanipatna. From the Union Minister to the local congress leaders, all highlighted how the local tribals have dared to openly oppose mining after rejecting different offers by the company and the state government. Stating that AICC Vice President Rahul Gandhi had committed the Dangaria Kandhas to fight for their right at ‘Dilli Durbar’, the Union Minister said the Congress was committed to stand behind the tribal groups. “We are committed to development of tribals...
Amid the overwhelming opposition to the Niyamgiri bauxite mining project at the recently held gram sabhas, Vedanta Aluminium is in a quandary on a sustainable alternative for its one-million-tonne Lanjigarh refinery. Though the company has applied for prospecting licences and mining leases at 26 sites in a 150-km radius of the Niyamgiri Hills, it feels a solution to its raw material concern is unlikely. “Most of these sites are unexplored. To be optimistic, the average period from an application for a mining lease to allotment and getting all statutory approvals is seven-eight years. To start operations, this may stretch to more than a decade,” said a senior Vedanta Aluminium official. “Also, there is no guarantee there won’t be any Niyamgiri-type agitation at a new location, as the...
The tribals of Ijurupa village in Kalahandi district today unanimously voted against the plan to mine bauxite on top of Niyamgiri hills, making it the eighth palli sabha in a row to reject the mining plan. The view of the tribals was along the expected lines after seven gram sabhas had voted against the proposed mining project. The outcome of the meeting was inconsequential since the fate of the project has already been sealed after a majority of the gram sabhas, seven out of 12 hill slope villages where such meetings were planned, said no to the mining plan. The gram sabha in the village ended within 30 minutes after all the registered voters who turned up for the meeting, opposed the bauxite mining project. The gram sabha was held amid tight security under the supervision of the...
Vedanta Resources Plc's plans to mine bauxite to feed its alumina refinery in Odisha have suffered a blow after a majority of local residents voted against mining around the hills they consider sacred. Failure to source bauxite from within the state might force the London-listed company to reconsider its 1-million-tonne-per-year plant, which has already been shut several times due to a shortage of the raw material. The project has drawn the anger of rights groups internationally and highlights the difficult task India faces in balancing economic development with the need to cushion hundreds of millions of poor from the fallout. Seven out of 12 villages whose opinion the Odisha government sought on the orders of the Supreme Court have rejected mining in the area, a top government official...
Thirty employers of Noranda Bauxite Partners Jamaica in Discovery Bay, St Ann, ditched their duties for two days recently to concentrate on helping less fortunate persons at the Widow's Mite orphanage in Murray Mountain in the parish. The team was accompanied by general manager of United Way of Jamaica, Winsome Wilkins, and management representatives from Noranda. Widow's Mite is a children's home that caters to physically and mentally challenged children, some of whom have been abandoned. The home is operated by the Mustard Seed organisation and is located close to the bauxite company's mining operations. The team continued work on projects that were started during a previous visit last October. This includes a vegetable garden, which saw them planting more cash crops, following the...
Bauxite Resources Limited Chairman Barry Carbon AM announces that he will retire from all positions with the Company effective 9 August 2013. The Board and Management of Bauxite Resources wish to express its sincere thanks to Mr Carbon for his significant contribution to the Company during his nearly four years as Chairman and wish him best in his retirement. Following Mr Carbon's retirement, Mr Robert Nash will become Chairman on an interim basis until further notice.
