EGA inaugurates container terminal for a new bauxite mine in Guinea

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) announced inauguration a container terminal at the Port of Kamsar in Guinea on Wednesday. The terminal will enable EGA to import materials for constructing a new bauxite mine for its subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC). On completion, the US$1 billion mine will produce 12 million tonnes of bauxite in a year.

The terminal, a part of the the Gulf aluminium company's overseas expansion plans, will be operated by the Abu Dhabi Ports. EGA is also developing a bulk terminal at the same location to facilitate navigation of vessels much larger than what plied previously. The will help pare down export costs per tonne when cargoes start leaving the terminal eventually.

According to industry reports, the first consignment of bauxite will leave the terminal during the current quarter for India and China.

"The export of bauxite at first then an alumina production plant would strengthen Guinea’s position on the global market and enable local processing of bauxite and with it the development of the mining sector," said Alpha Condé, Guinea’s president, in a statement from EGA following the inauguration.

Business entitites other than EGA will have access to the new terminal as an alternative to existing facilities in the capital, Conakry. "The ­development of the Kamsar Port is also important because it ­provides new facilities for others to trade [in Guinea]," said Abdulla Kalban, EGA’s managing director and chief executive. He was optimistic about the prospects of the terminal growing into a full-fledged trading hub like UAE's other ports in the near future.

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Guinea boasts of one of the richest bauxite reserves in the world.  The bauxite mine project will boost Guinea’s economy driving GDP up by 10 per cent, according to the EGA statement.

EGA is also constructing a railway extension to connect the bauxite mine with the Kamsar port. The entire project will create 4,000 jobs, the aluminium producer estimated. EGA is training hundreds of Guineans for future employment at the GAC.