Social unrest cripples bauxite mining in Guinea

Bauxite production in the Republic of Guinea has been badly affected by the social unrest whereby the rioting residents are seeking solution to the rising pollution level and frequent power cuts allegedly caused due to excessive bauxite mining. The riot has jeopardized the outflow of the ore from the country, which sits atop an estimated bauxite ore reserve of 7.4 billion tonnes.

Commenting on the situation, Guinea’s secretary general of Mines Ministry Saadou Nimaga said, “It’s a problem with electricity that aggravated the situation. We are working on finding a solution to the problem.”

The problem is more environmental than power related, the residents opine. “It’s nearly the whole city that has risen up against the pollution and power cuts,” said a bauxite mining company confiding to the media on condition of anonymity.

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Guinea stands as the number five bauxite producing country in the world. It currently produces 20,000 thousand tons of bauxite per year. The biggest bauxite producing company here is Sangaredi mine. The mine is owned by Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG), a joint venture between the Guinean Government (49%) and Halco Mining (51%) also a joint venture between Dadco Mining and Rio Tinto Alcan. The company produces 14 million tons of bauxite per annum.

Guinean-Chinese consortium SMB-WAP and Guinea Alumina Corporation S.A. owned by Emirates Global Aluminium are some of the major bauxite players in Guinea. Spain, Ukraine and Ireland are the top importers of bauxite and account for fifty per cent of the total bauxite export from Guinea.