Investment firm Mubadala has signed a US$5bn agreement with the government of Guinea to develop a bauxite mine and an alumina refinery in the country, which would help it secure raw material for its UAE aluminium plants
According to Reuters, Guinea’s minister for mines and geology, Mohamed Lamine Fofana, said the deal included a US$4bn contract for building an alumina refinery and port and a US$1bn agreement to extract and export bauxite to the UAE.
Fofana added, “The bauxite will be ready for export by 2017 and the refinery with a capacity to produce two million tonnes per annum, will become operational by 2022.”
The port is expected to come up by 2017 in Kamsar. Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Geology has planned to open it out to other mining and refining projects in the regiona, and for local users from other industries.
According to ministry sources, Guinea is one of the world’s major suppliers of bauxite, a raw material used in aluminium production.
Last year, Mubadala signed an agreement with Compagnie de Bauxites in Guinea for the long-term supply of bauxite to the UAE. In May 2013, Mubadala and Dubai Aluminium said they would jointly take over an Alumina project in Guinea from BHP Billiton and Global Alumina.
Earlier this year, Dubai Aluminium merged with Emirates Aluminium to form Emirates Global Aluminium that is partly owned by Mubadala. The merged group has two aluminium plants in the UAE, one in Dubai and a second at Taweelah near Abu Dhabi.
The investment company said the deal with Guinea would aid with the expansion of Emirates Global Aluminium, which has aimed to become the world’s fifth largest aluminium producer next year.
