Chalco postpones its Boffa bauxite project launch to Q1 2020

According to a recent report, Aluminium Corporation of China, also known as Chalco, has postponed the launch of its Boffa bauxite project in Guinea until at least the first quarter of 2020. The news came after Chalco’s official declared it on Thursday, October 10.

The construction of the project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020 before production begins, said Chalco’s director general of mineral resources Wang Dongbo at the China mining conference in Tianjin. The project holds around 1.75 billion tonnes of bauxite, with an estimated annual production of 12 million tonnes a year in the first phase.

In June last year, Chalco had signed an agreement with Guinea government to develop the Boffa bauxite project in the west of the country, while in October, the construction began. Originally, the production was expected to start by the end of 2019. However, Wang said issues with the climate in Guinea caused a delay.

The bauxite to be produced in the first phase of the project will go to Chalco's alumina refineries in Shandong and Guangxi. Upon full operation, Chalco is expected to be capable of providing 75 per cent of bauxite as raw materials.