Tan Rai bauxite plant to officially run this September

Mr. Le Viet Quang, Chairman, Lam Dong Aluminum Company, has said that the construction of the Tan Rai bauxite project in Lam Dong Province has been completed, with 1.6 million tons of bauxite ore mined. The first phase of this project is designed with a capacity of 650,000 tons of alumina a year. The investor has spent over VND11.6 trillion ($580 million) in this project.

Mr. Tran Van Cang, an official of Bao Lam District, Lam Dong Province, where the project is located, said the Tan Rai bauxite project covers approximately 2,000 hectares. About 900 households had to hand over their land to this project. Twenty households have not received compensation for land.

Cang also said that since the implementation of the project, the water and air environment in this area has been affected. “The impact of the project on the environment is not measured specifically. However, the red sludge discharged from this plant containing chemicals so the chemicals may be dispersed in the air. The contractors and the investor committed that these impacts are within the permissible limits,” he said.

Regards to Chinese labor in this project, Cang said there was a time that this project employed up to 1,500 Chinese workers but at present, most of them have returned home.

According to the representative from the Tan Rai project management board, the project currently uses 1,397 workers, including 1,018 local people. The representative also said that during the trial period, the project did not have any incident.