Guinean President Alpha Conde has officially inaugurated the Bel Air mine in Guinea, Alufer Mining Limited announced through a press release.
The Minister of Mines, members of Parliament, Ambassadors from the UK and US and local dignitaries were present during the inauguration. The president formally opened the export facility by starting the causeway conveyor and commencing loading of the vessel at berth.
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Over one million tonnes of bauxite ore have now been shipped from the project. Alufer Mining of Guinea has delivered its first Capesize shipment of bauxite with a volume of 203,009 tonnes, to the Port of Qingdao, in China in November. Over 750,000 tonnes of bauxite were loaded and were on route to other customers already. The company then said in November that the operational ramp-up phase at Alufer’s Bel Air bauxite project in Guinea is on track and progressing as expected.
Bernie Pryor, CEO, commented, “We were delighted to host the President, Government and local officials on site to formally mark the opening of the mine and also appreciate the progress we have made at Bel Air. We are very pleased to have successfully ramped up the project in such a short timeframe and look forward to reaching steady state production in the near future.”
This is a notable achievement within the first four months of production during the tough monsoon season. Alufer had recently extended its offtake agreement with Chalco for bauxite supply from Bel Air mine. The company is on target to reach steady state production as planned for next year.
According to Fastmarkets MB’s assessments, bauxite prices in the Atlantic are stable at $38 per tonne fob Kamsar in Guinea and $36.50 per tonne fob Trombetas in Brazil.
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