The international SMB-Winning consortium which is building a railway service for Guinea bauxite industry investing US$3 billion made the announcement on Friday that Guinea’s new railway line will be ready to transport bauxite by June 2021.
The project also aims to exploit new bauxite deposits in the Santou and Houda region that falls 250 km north of Conakry. The railway service will transport and process the ore for export. The bauxite ore is expected to be processed at an alumina refinery to be built in the Boké special economic zone. This is a city close to the border with Guinea-Bissau.
{alcircleadd}
This 135-kilometre railway track will be constructed by two Chinese companies. Guinea has the largest bauxite reserve in the world though most of its ore is still unexplored. Guinea derives most of its revenue from the exploitation of ore mines, especially bauxite, making it the 3rd largest producer in the world. Political unrest and poor infrastructure remain two key handicaps in the development of the bauxite sector. Conakry is currently working on its infrastructure backlog in order to exploit its rich mining potential.
The international SMB-Winning consortium is owned by a Guinean( 37%), Singaporean (40%) and Chinese (23%) companies. They will operate the railway for 33 years and then it will be handed over to the state on a public-private partnership.
Responses
