EGA’s global gambit: From strategic minerals to smelting autonomy amid Guinea bauxite mining uncertainty
In a week of proud announcements, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has unveiled two noteworthy investment decisions with an intent of sweeping diversification and localisation strategy, while simultaneously contending with mounting geopolitical pressure in its upstream supply chain.
On May 16, EGA signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UAE’s Tawazun Council and US-based RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies) to extract and refine gallium, a strategic rare metal, at its Al Taweelah alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi. Once operational, this initiative would elevate the UAE to the second-largest global producer of gallium, following China, reinforcing its ambitions to become a central node in the critical minerals supply chain for semiconductors, defence systems, and next-gen electronics.
Gallium, found in trace amounts in bauxite ore and typically viewed as an impurity in aluminium production, is now being reimagined as an industrial asset. With RTX as an anchor partner and Tawazun’s backing through its Economic Programme, EGA is positioning itself as a dual-sector player, serving both commercial aluminium and strategic minerals for national security applications.
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