China announces construction of alumina refinery in Guinea after facing bauxite import blockage

Chinese enterprise State Power Investment Corp. (SPIC) sparked excitement at the beginning of the calendar year as it announced a heavy-duty alumina refinery to be established in Guinea. The newest project was announced after it successfully carried out bauxite production in the West African country for the past three years.

The plant, with its massive structural planning, has the potential to become the country's biggest preceding production to the only other refinery of Russian-owned United Co. Rusal Friguia's refinery, which has the capacity to produce at least 600,000 tonnes a year.

SPIC will start the construction in March and complete the refinery that will have the capacity to produce 1.2 million tons of alumina per year by the end of 2027, the presidency said in a statement.

"The state reserves the right to withdraw the mining concession from State Power Investment Corp. if the company doesn't reach commercial production by December 2028," the statement said.

SPIC is also set to construct a 250-megawatt power plant and supply 100 megawatts to the national grid, as revealed by the official statement. The company shipped 3.14 million tons of bauxite in 2023.

Guinea's military government is pressuring mining companies in the world's largest exporter of bauxite, a reddish ore processed to produce alumina, to set up onsite processing facilities. This initiative aims to stimulate economic growth.

The recent agreement between the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) and the government was reached just two months after the junta, led by General Mamadi Doumbouya, halted bauxite shipments from Emirates Global Aluminum, demanding that the company expedite its refinery project.