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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National Aluminium Ltd, the Bhubaneswar-based integrated PSU aluminium maker, is yet to resume operations at its bauxite mine at Panchpatmali in Koraput district of Odisha. Mine operations stopped on November 17 in the absence of mine lease renewal. A temporary work permit for a year also eluded Nalco as the forest advisory committee of the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment could not approve it at its meeting on November 27. According to company sources, “the process for issuing the temporary work permit has been initiated, but the approval and resumption of work at Panchpatmali may come about sometime next week.” The 30-year mining lease for the asset expired on November 16. Nalco had filed application for renewal in October 2010 and in February this year; it also had filed an...
The Queensland LNP Government has taken the first concrete step towards its long-stated aim of exploiting the Aurukun bauxite resource in western Cape York. This time around, however, the right to mine will not be tied to the requirement to build an alumina refinery. Yesterday the Newman Government formally opened the Expressions of Interest process for the development rights of the 439mt reserve of in-situ bauxite. Chalco inked a Development Agreement on 23 March 2007 under the Beattie Government. The proponent eventually vacated its lease, weighed down by the expense of an alumina refinery. Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Jeff Seeney, said development of an Aurukun refinery was pie in the sky. “The previous government’s botched strategy of...
Vedanta Resources Plc is counting on a court verdict next month to secure raw material and revive a faltering $9 billion aluminum project in India. The Supreme Court on Dec. 3 may grant unit Vedanta Aluminium Ltd. access to a bauxite mine in Odisha, helping it to cut production costs by almost 24 percent, Chief Operating Officer Mukesh Kumar said today in a phone interview. The project in the eastern state includes a refinery, a smelter and a power plant. The government in August 2010 rejected Vedanta’s plan to secure bauxite from the nearby Niyamgiri hills, citing concerns it would affect tribes and wildlife. The shortage has left Vedanta Aluminium with accumulated debt of $3.65 billion. The 1 million metric ton-a-year refinery is operating at 60 percent capacity with ore purchased from...
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), an expert panel of Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF), is expected to take a call by next week on granting fresh forest clearance to the Panchpatmalli bauxite mines of National Aluminium Company (Nalco) to enable the company secure temporary work permit (TWP) to operate the mine. TWP is essential to resume mining operation by the company which has stopped bauxite excavation following expiry of the term of the mining lease on November 16. Halt of operation at Panchpatmalli mines has raised concerns on bauxite availability for Nalco's alumina refinery at Damanjodi in Koraput district. “We have presented our case to the FAC. The committee has taken a positive note of our case. A decision by the FAC is expected by the first week of December,”...
Business and community leaders are describing the Queensland Government's call for fresh expressions of interest to mine rich bauxite deposits at Aurukun on Cape York as giving the indigenous people of the region new hope, prosperity and jobs. The $1 billion mine has the potential to employ 700 people during construction and up to 600 during operations. The successful applicant will not have to build an alumina refinery, which the last successful tenderer, Chinese aluminium giant Chalco, was unable to commit to. The Government has opened an Expressions of Interest process for the development rights to the bauxite resource closing on February 13 next year. A short list of five proponents will be selected and the successful company chosen by the end of 2013. The Aurukun Shire Council, the...
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests granted temporary working permit to National Aluminium Company for operating the central and north block of Panchpatmaili mines in Koraput districts where bauxite mining was suspended on November 17 after the 30-year-old lease expired. Nalco had to stop its 2.1 million tonne per annum bauxite refinery at Damanjodi after the mining lease in Damanjodi block of Koraput district spread over 4692.05 hectares of area expired. The Panchpatmali hills have over 310 million tonne of bauxite. Nalco sources said the Forest Advisory Committee which met in New Delhi today, accorded TWP to Nalco for 544.7 hectare of forest land including 158 hectare under active mining for next one year. Officials said Nalco can start...
Privately-funded Alliance Mining Commodities has announced it will cost $812 million to develop its Koumbia bauxite project in Guinea, West Africa. The Perth-based miner released the results of its definitive feasibility study for the Koumbia project today, which flagged commencement of production in 206, ramping up to full capacity in 2018. The Koumbia project comprises a high-grade bauxite resource at 305 million tonnes at 48 per cent, which is sufficient to underpin a 40 year mine life. Mine, rail and port capital expenditure will come in at $812 million, with the funds to be repaid within five years. AMC has forecast life of mine revenue to exceed $US7 billion. Operating costs are expected to be around $US11/tonne, Alliance said. “The delivery of the definitive feasibility study...
It is reported that Henan Institute of Geological Survey has found more than 85,000 thousand tons of bauxite together with light rare earth resource in. According to the introduction, Henan Institute of Geological Survey found more than 62,170 thousand tons of bauxite in Li Zhuangzhai and more than 23,300 thousand tons in Xing Yang, totally more than 85,470 thousand tons. Also discovered 2,000 thousand tons of sulphur resource and 1,041 thousand tons of gallium resource. Then conducted preliminary evaluation to the concomitant TR203. The data showed bauxite was the best raw material for the production of metal aluminum, and the main application field as well. The nonmetal of bauxite including fireproofing, abrasive, chemicals and raw material of bauxite cement.
Chinese imports of bauxite fell 31 percent from a year earlier last month after Indonesia curbed mineral exports, restricting seaborne shipments of the ore used to make aluminum. Total deliveries to China slid to 2.14 million metric tons from 3.09 million tons in October 2011, according to customs figures. Imports from Indonesia plunged 56 percent to 1.05 million tons, the data showed. Limits imposed by Indonesia on raw-material exports since May will cut seaborne trade in bauxite by 5 percent this year, Clarkson Plc, the largest shipbroker, said in a report published yesterday. Courts in the country, which accounted for 49 percent of last year’s 82 million tons of global shipments, annulled parts of the laws in November, it showed. “A lack of clarity over future Indonesian export...
Vedanta Aluminium Ltd , which is facing a challenge to run its refinery at Lanjigarh (Odisha) beyond December 5, hopes to get some bauxite from external sources in 2-3 days. “We are making all efforts to source bauxite from different sources. Hopefully, something will work out in 2-3 days”, said Mukesh Kumar , president and chief operating officer, VAL. Asked if the state government gave any assurance to make bauxite available for the plant, Kumar said, “There was no specific discussion on bauxite availability for our alumina refinery. The state government may be making efforts. We are also trying hard at our level.” A high-level team of VAL led by its managing director S K Roongta called on Odisha chief secretary B K Patnaik on Saturday. Pramod Suri, chief executive officer of VAL was...
A group of landowners in the bauxite mining area in Bua revealed in a survey that they were not part of a decision to begin the mining process. The survey conducted by the Bua Urban Youth Network in Nawailevu this year showed 20 per cent of respondents felt they were involved in the decision to mine. The results were also published in the Papua New Guinea Mine Watch newsletter. The landowners noted there was a general perception that being physically present in the meeting room where discussions took place meant that the concerned person was involved in the decision. Of the 76 per cent of respondents who said they were not included in the decision to mine, most were women, youths and older males from outside the landowning unit. However, mine manager Basilio Vanuaca said members of the...
With Orissa Mining Corporation's petition challenging the Centre, which imposed restrictions on bauxite from Niyamgiri Hills, scheduled for hearing at the green tribunal of Supreme Court on Friday, two outfits opposing the mining demonstrated against Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district on Thursday. Kalahandi Sachetan Nagarika Mancha and Niyamgiri Surakshya Samiti jointly demonstrated in front of the collector's office. "We have been fighting against mining at Niyamgiri in Lanjigarh from the beginning. If the hearing on OMC's petition goes in favour of Vedanta, tribal people in this area will lose more than what they have already lost. We are still strongly opposed to mining whereby the natural flora and fauna of the area will be in danger," said Satya...
Local miner Indopura Resources joined forces with Chinese miner Hainan Joint Enterprise Business Service to build a bauxite smelter at a cost of about $700 million. The funding for the smelter will be supported by China Construction Bank International. The two companies signed a cooperation agreement in Batam on Wednesday. “This cooperation agreement will add value to Indonesian bauxite,” said M. Arief Winata, managing director at Indopura Resources. Indopura has putting together plans for the smelter and creating construction designs, which are expected to completed next year. “The construction is expected to start in 2014,” Arief said. The ore bauxite, Arief said, will be from Ketapang, West Kalimantan, from a 27,000-hectare mining area owned by local miner Laman Mining. “We need 5,000...
Ghana’s mining sector is expected to reach a value of $1.83 billion in 2016, according to the Ghana Mining Report – Fourth Quarter 2012. The Report by Research Company Research and Markets says the sector will increase from $1.21 billion in 2010 “as bauxite and gold production see substantial increases.” The Report argues; “This marks a significant break from the past decade where the mining sector value has barely risen as gold output has declined, offsetting much of the increases in price. We expect gold to be the main driver of growth, but bauxite to play a growing role in the mining sector over the coming years,” it said. Ghana contains the second-largest area of gold deposits in the African region after South Africa, the Report said, adding that the nation derives the bulk of its...
A large-scale bauxite mine expansion on Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland is a step closer, with the release of a new environmental impact statement (EIS). Public feedback for the proposed $1.5 billion South of Embley Project, near Weipa, will close on December 19. Rio Tinto Alcan spokesman Pat Fiore says it meets the Federal Government's requirement to include the impact of shipping on the Great Barrier Reef. "The extra ships are actually going north to Asia, they are not travelling through the reef at all," he said. "We've gone through the details of all that in this new submission. "We've also explained in even more detail what we've been doing for 45, 50 years already, how we ship through the reef." Mr Fiore says as well as addressing concerns about shipping through the...
First bauxite from Rio Tinto's $1.4 billion South of Embley project near Weipa has been delayed by a year after federal Environment Minister Tony Burke sent the approvals process back to square one because of concerns over shipping through the Great Barrier Reef. Rio will release its environmental impact statement today, eight months after Mr Burke surprised the miner by expanding the terms of reference of the study to include the impact of shipping on the reef. Rio says it will target starting construction next year, with first bauxite shipments in 2016, back from a previous target of 2015. The South of Embley project will produce up to 50 million tonnes of bauxite a year from an area 40km south of Weipa, most of which will be exported to Asia. But some bauxite will be shipped around...
Hopeful of getting the Temporary Working Permit (TWP) to operate its bauxite mines at Panchpatmali in Odisha's Koraput district, Nalco today said the 'Navratna' company would certainly meet all commitments in terms of supply of alumina to refinery and export orders. "We have stocked sufficient bauxite to run the refinery for at least three weeks. During the period, the company is confident of geting TWP to operate the bauxite mines at Panchapatmali hills, the mining lease of which lapsed on November 16. The company hopes to resume mines operation by first week of December," Nalco CMD Ansuman Das told reporters. Nalco, which was allocated 4,692 hectare of bauxite reserve at Panchapatmali hills 30 years ago, meanwhile have applied for the TWP after renewal of its mining lease was delyed due...
IBAAS plans to hold its first International symposium on ‘Bauxite, Alumina and Aluminium Industry of Asia – Vision 2020’ with special Session on “Non-metallurgical bauxites and alumina products” during December 3-5, 2012 in Nagpur, India. The aluminium industry structure is rapidly changing and production centres are shifting to developing, high growth potential countries of the world. Keeping the present development pace and growing importance of Asian countries, International Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium Society (IBAAS) was set up in this part of the world by professionals active in various fields of aluminium industry. The association aims to stimulate, promote and encourage scientific and technological investigations and industrial development mainly in the Asian countries. Bauxite...
