Shandong Xinfa to invest $14 billion towards Guinea bauxite project

A Guinea government official revealed that China’s Shandong Xinfa Aluminium & Electricity Group is in talks with the government to take up the bauxite project abandoned by BHP Billiton by investing $14 billion towards it.

A government tender was floated regarding a bauxite concession in the region 150 kilometers north of Conakry, the capital city. Shandong Xinfa beat the other three bidders for the Boffa-Santou-Houda project, where they plan to invest $14 billion over the next 15 years.

The government official who reported this did not wish to be named as this information is not public yet. The proposed investment is twice the amount of Guinea’s current economy of $6.2 billion. Guinea, the largest exporter of bauxite which is the prime ore for aluminium extraction, has attracted the attention of the Chinese producers who are facing a crunch of raw materials after the Indonesian ban of bauxite export. Shandong Xinfa plans to build refineries, power plant and a port surrounding the project, after BHP returned its mining projects in 2012 following an aluminium price drop.

The talks are however stalled currently according to the government source.

The country that is plagued with the Ebola breakout killing more than 2,000 people since December really needs the investment to stabilize the weakening economy and if the deal is not finalized with Shandong Xinfa, the source said that the government will start talks with the second highest bidder.