BHP’s retired high rank executive Alberto Calderon invests in Gulf Alumina

One of BHP Billiton’s high ranking executives, Alberto Calderon recently retired but instead of taking time off he is planning to team up with some experienced alumni from ex-rival firm Rio Tinto and begin working on a bauxite export project from the Cape York area.

With aluminium demand on a high, the bauxite mining industry is very lucrative at the moment and industry leaders like Glencore and Rio are now the prime players in the Australian bauxite projects.

Mr. Calderon, who was one of the top five executives, is going into business with Gulf Alumina, where he says he has made a ‘medium’ sized investment. The deal with this private company is based on royalty where Mr. Calderon will be entitled to a percentage of the revenues generated from exports. He will also be advising the company on other off take deals.

The investment marks the first step in Mr. Calderon’s of setting up a private equity group based on royalty streaming deals.

Gulf Alumina bauxite export plans from Cape York tenements are likely to be somewhere around 3 million tonnes and is just 200 km away from where Rio Tinto is supposed to set up shop later this year. With China’s growing import needs and Gulf Alumina’s strategic Cape York location, they would most likely have ample export opportunities in China, who are at present importing from geographically far off places like Ghana, Guinea and Brazil.