EGA completes one year since its first bauxite export from Guinea Alumina Corporation

Emirates Global Aluminium, today, August 19, has marked a year since its first bauxite export from wholly-owned mining subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation. In last one year, EGA has exported over 6.1 million dry metric tonnes of bauxite ore to customers around the world, while maintaining a world-class safety performance.

Guinea Alumina Corporation is now on track to ramp up to full production of nearly 12 million tonnes per annum by the end of 2020.

The start-up of GAC in August 2019 and the first production at EGA’s alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi earlier in 2019 completed EGA’s strategic expansion in the upstream aluminium sector.

Currently, throughout the ramp-up, GAC is focusing on safety. There have been no injuries leading to time off work in operations so far. GAC’s total recordable incident frequency rate, which is a key measure of safety performance, is 0.61 per million hours worked. This is equivalent to average 3.4 per million hours in bauxite mining worldwide, according to the International Aluminium Institute.

EGA’s Chief Executive Officer, Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, said: “We are making good progress with the ramp-up of GAC, and performance is in line with our plans. Most importantly, we are maintaining a world-class safety performance during ramp-up, and I commend the GAC team for this achievement.”

EGA’s GAC project, one of the largest greenfield investments in Guinea in the last 40 years, required some $1.4 billion to develop. Of the total fund, a $570 loan was funded by the largest greenfield mining project financing ever in Guinea.

Once the ramp-up to full production is achieved, GAC is expected to make a direct, indirect and induced economic impact of some $700 million year over year, which equates to a 5.5 per cent boost to Guinea’s GDP.