International Responsible Business Conduct (IRBC) has completed a project examining aluminium and bauxite supply chains to improve transparency and traceability in materials supporting the renewable energy transition. The project brought together wind energy company Siemens Gamesa, Dutch cable manufacturer TKF, Digital Product Passport (DPP) technology provider Minespider, and project partner Responsible Trade. The initiative mapped selected upstream aluminium and bauxite supply chains and tested secure DPPs to organise and present traceability and sustainability information across multiple supplier tiers. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: " Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price...
Mount Ridley Mines has reported 94.9 per cent gallium recovery from a third-party bauxite sample using its patent-pending Selectro process, alongside recoveries of 92 per cent aluminium and 97 per cent iron in a single low-temperature leach. The test also produced a silica-rich residue instead of conventional red mud, highlighting the technology’s potential to recover multiple metals from bauxite through one processing route. The sample was provided by Australian Silica Quartz Group from its Darling Range bauxite project in Western Australia. It comprised material collected from 16 vacuum drill samples across four holes at the Athena and Ceres prospects. Containing 80 parts per million of gallium, the sample yielded an extraction rate of 94.9 per cent into solution. Mount Ridley said this...
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The United States crude and dried bauxite imports extended downfall over the quarter by 12,000 tonnes or 1.52 per cent to 777,000 tonnes in Q4 2020. In the third quarter of the year, the US bauxite imports were at 789,000 tonnes, registering a plunge of 45,000 tonnes or 5.40 per cent from Q2 2020. On a year-on-year basis, the US bauxite imports in Q4 2020 reduced by 22.3 per cent from 1 million tonnes. In the entire year of 2020, the United States imported 3.180 million tonnes of bauxite, which reflected a decrease of 14.29 per cent from 3.710 million tonnes in 2019. Jamaica remained the mainstay as the highest exporter of bauxite to the US in Q4 2020. The country supplied 728,000 tonnes to the United States, flat compared to the previous quarter and 9.31 per cent up from 666,000 tonnes...
On 9 th March 2021, Canyon Resources Limited made public that Vecturis has joined Canyon’s Owner’s team to develop the technical and commercial rail solutions for the BFS. A privately-owned Belgian company, Vecturis specialise in railway management services and operations, functional for freight, natural resource extraction and export logistics and solutions. Vecturis is generally experienced in single-track railway lines including bulk commodities freight. It has delivered similar consulting services for the SETRAG line in Gabon, the Nacala Corridor in Mozambique and Malawi, Ghana’s Western Line, the CFB in Angola, and several other lines in Africa and South America. Of significance and direct relevance to Minim Martap, Vecturis has subsequently worked in the West African bauxite market,...
On 6 th March 2021, the Odisha cabinet held a meeting, where it approved the proposal of the state government to authorize Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to sell the entire quantity of bauxite ore meant for sale through national e-auction for 2020-21 at the rate of INR 1,000 per tonne. As decided, the bauxite will be sold at the rate of INR 1000 per tonne with a subsequent undertaking to pay the differential rate as stipulated by the High Court. This decision by the cabinet will prevent loss of revenue to OMC. In February 2018, the government amended the Long Term Linkage (LTL) policy for the supply of bauxite ore by the OMC to the end-users in the State. However, in 2019, the Centre amended the conversion factor for calculating the average sale price (ASP) of metallurgical grade...
The Governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards joined DADA Holdings Chairman and CEO David D’Addario and Enervoxa CEO Vandit Verma to publicise that the joint venture of DADA Holdings and Enervoxa ‘ElementUS’, will infuse an $800 million capital investment to extract rare earth elements at the Noranda Alumina site in Gramercy, Louisiana. This is subject to a final investment decision within the next year. The Gramercy-based Noranda Alumina owned by DADA Holdings is joining hands with green technology firm Enervoxa to extract rare earth elements and other valuable minerals from alumina by-products. The Gramercy site has a 35 million dry-tonnes reserve of mineral-rich residual bauxite. The carbon-neutral project would result in 200 new direct jobs, with an average annual salary of more than...
In 2017, Bel Air Mining was established in Guinea and now in 2021, it is in a deep financial crisis. The Guinean subsidiary of Alufer Mining Ltd., which exploits bauxite in the Boffa region, has been severely affected due to the recent slash in prices and the increase in freight and restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 3 rd February 2021, the board of directors declared a loss of approximately $ 70 million in revenue over the past two years due to the decline in bauxite prices. Bel Air Mining in its short-term action plan has decided to slow the pace of transport activities in February 2021, until deposits of 400,000 tonnes have been established, at the port to load 2O GV as soon as it is resumed. The sub-contract in transport favouring companies in Djoma and Maliguia will be...
The world’s largest bauxite exporting nation, Guinea has made an astonishing entry in the 2019 Fraser Institute ranking, crowing first in the world in terms of mining potential. Notwithstanding, the poor discernment of its mining policies obstructed the country from appearing in the top 10, in terms of overall attractiveness. According to the Fraser Institute, the top think-tank in Canada and which now ranks in the top 15 among all think-tanks worldwide pointed that Guinea ranks as the 43 rd most attractive jurisdiction globally in 2020, while the West African nation was at 20 th place in 2019. If this position marks a relapse to the country that was both continental leader and 1 st in the world in terms of mineral potential, it must be stressed that the first African producer of bauxite...
One of the world's largest exporters of metallurgical bauxite, operating mines located in the northwest of the Republic of Guinea, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) has paid a total of $471 million during 2015 and 2019, as reported by the senior officials from the Ministry of Mines and Geology. Following the efficient mechanism for several years, in 2019, CBG paid every month, one-twelfth of the total amount of taxes budgeted and fixed in advance. Indeed, at the end of the year, this amount is often different from the overall amount achieved and which is the only one to be taken into account in the reconciliations carried out to consolidate the figures. Hence, over the past five years - the 2020 figures are being reconciled - the company paid $149 million in 2015; $108 million in...
The Self-reliant India movement, a vision drawn by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India to make India a global manufacturing hub and aluminium industry is all set to play a key role in the movement. Presently, the worldwide manufacturing sectors like aerospace, space exploration, national defence, building and construction, transportation, automotive, electrical distribution, packaging and others are heavily dependent on aluminium. The Indian Bauxite reserves and industrial infrastructure to manufacture Aluminium and its products have well-positioned the nation to become a vital source of metal for the world. As a producer of the base metal, this will place India as a one-stop destination for sourcing aluminium and as an outcome in a long term, this will support India towards achieving...
Bonasika Bauxite, a direct shipping ore (DSO) project, whose development has been initiated in Guyana. Guyana Industrial Minerals (GINMIN), a subsidiary of First Bauxite Corporation, remains the project developer. As per the plan, Bauxite from the Bonasika project will undergo mining and beneficiation in Guyana, with calcination and sintering to be conducted in Louisiana, US. On 20 th February’20, the inauguration of the mining operation was done by a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the presence of the Executives of First Bauxite/Guyana Industrial Minerals and the government delegation comprising then Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo. The bauxite production embarked last year between 100,000 and 150,000...
Phillip Gallagher, the Managing Director of Canyon Resources and Rick Smith, the new Camalco Director-General hosted a visit on 25 th January 2021, to the Minim Martap Project site by His Excellency Gabrielle Ndoko, the Minister of Mines – Govt. of Cameroon, the Secretary of State to the Minister of Mines, the Governor of the Adamoua Region and other dignitaries. The purpose of the site visit was for Camalco to present the results of the extensive exploration and geological research completed by the company on the Project and to discuss the development plans for the Project. The presentation and meetings at the towns of Martap and Minim were chaired by the Minister of Mines and attended by local dignitaries and people from the local villages. The meetings were overwhelmingly positive, and...
Camalco, the subsidiary company of Canyon Resources with headquarters in Perth Western Australia, has appointed Rick Smith as Director-General of Camalco. Since March 2020, Smith has been working with Canyon Resources as Chief Development Officer and has agreed to accept the role of DG at Camalco and base himself in Cameroon for the crucial periods of the end of the feasibility studies and the commencement of construction of the Project. Rick Smith an Ex-Senior Executive, within Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC), who successfully commissioned the $1.4 billion CAPEX, GAC Project. The bauxite mine is located in Tinguilinta, Guinea and is West Africa’s newest bauxite mine that will export 12 million tonnes per annum through its Kamsar bauxite port facilities which were commissioned in Q3...
Leonardo DiCaprio, the eminent Hollywood celebrity who acted in movies like Titanic, Blood Diamond and many other movies, has called on the Govt. of Ghana to ensure the 'Atewa Forest' remains safe. On his Twitter handle, the world-renowned actor indicated that the Forest in Ghana is one of the Earth's irreplaceable places keeping the planet alive. The Atewa Range Forest Reserve, located in the south-eastern region of Ghana, is the home to more than 1,000 species of plants, 230 species of birds, 570 species of butterflies, and more than 50 species of mammals, most of whom are endangered. The forest is chronicled as a crucial biodiversity zone critical to the persistence of global biodiversity and the overall health of the entire planet Earth. In 2016, the Govt. of Ghana declared that it...
Dr Sakoba Keita, Head of Guinea's National Health Security Agency, said: “Guinea has entered an Ebola ‘epidemic situation’ with seven cases confirmed, including three deaths.” On 14 th February 2021, the health officials confirmed that at least three people have died in Guinea and several others have tested positive for the hemorrhagic fever, prompting authorities to declare an outbreak of the Ebola virus. Buona Yattassaye, Deputy Head of the National Health Security Agency, said: “All patients from N’Zerekore in the southeast of the country were hospitalized, one of them in the capital Conakry.” Guinea, the land of bauxite, world’s largest exporter of the aluminium ore and ranks second in producing bauxite keeping China behind was the epicentre of the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic that killed...
On 14 th February 2021, Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Geology paid a visit to the Balaya bauxite mining site in the prefecture of Kindia, before proceeding to the inauguration of the new bridge located in the locality of Féréfou, under the sub-prefecture of Friguiagbè. The minister was accompanied by a strong delegation, made up of executives from his department and members of the Local Development Fund (FODEL). Abdoulaye Magassouba, Minister of Mines, during the visit to Balaya bauxite mining site drew the attention of RUSAL-CBK officials towards the issue of environmental protection and requested their technical participation, especially in the agricultural field. Magassouba said: “For example, you can send an expert to the peasants in neighbouring localities which are in the vicinity...
The bauxite mining company Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée SA (CBG) is likely to take forward the long-due dispute settlement with local communities over the resettlement of a bauxite mine. According to a report, now Rio Tinto has provided expertise to CBG to help settle the dispute, which has been continuing since Guinean villagers in communities around the mine filed a complaint in 2019 with International Finance Corporation alleging contraventions by CBG of its commitments around resettlement and pollution. Bauxite producer CBG is 51 per cent owned by consortium Halco Mining Inc. and 49 per cent by the Guinean government. Rio Tinto and Alcoa Corp AA.N each hold 45% of Halco, while Dadco Investments holds the rest. On Friday, February 12, Rio Tinto said that it offered a Guinea-based...
RUSAL has announced that the management of the Company's Representative office in Guinea has been awarded the Guinea Best Company Awards for its contribution to the fight against COVID-19 and socially responsible policy during the pandemic. The Guinea Best Company Awards event is organised annually by the Think Tank of COPE-Guinée (Coordination of Guinean non-governmental organizations for the promotion of excellence) since 2010 to present 50 enterprises in Guinea and West Africa that have demonstrated significant achievements across various fields such as industry, economics and public life. The COPE-Guinée named Alexander Larionov, RUSAL General Director in Guinea, after assessing the results of 2020 from the list of top 50 managers of commercial enterprises in the region. The results...
Norsk Hydro the globally integrated aluminium giant has been sued by a group of communities in Brazil. Around 40,000 Brazilians are involved in the lawsuit against Norwegian aluminium producer, as they stated, it is toxic waste pollution the company is causing in northern Brazil. The communities who live in the lower Amazon region in the Brazilian state of Para, mainly members of Cainquiama – the Amazon Association of Mixed Race, Indigenous and Quilombolas – representing some 11,000 families has brought the lawsuit. PGMBM, the law firm of the community said: “They are seeking compensation for what they say is the incorrect disposal of toxic waste in the Murucupi River, as well as other effects from the presence of Norsk Hydro installations in the region.” Norsk Hydro has three facilities...
Rusal, a leading global aluminium producer, has announced operating results for the fourth quarter of 2020 and full-year ending on December 31, revealing that its bauxite production decreased in Q4 by 7.6 per cent Q-o-Q to stand at 3.539 million tonnes. In Q3, bauxite output was at 3.829 million tonnes. The full-year bauxite production for 2020 totalled 14.838 million tonnes, down by 7.5 per cent from 16.047 million tonnes in the previous year. The decline in bauxite production in Q4 2020 was mainly because of the decrease in shipment volume at the Timan refinery in December due to unfavourable weather conditions. The whole year production stood down attributing to the suspension of business operations in Guyana, as announced at the beginning of February 2020. Bauxite third party sales...
