UAE’s Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has officially opened a container terminal in its new port facility at Kamsar, Guinea.
Inaugurated by Alpha Condé, the President of the Republic of Guinea, the terminal will enable the import of materials for the construction of the 12 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) mine as well as allow early bauxite bulk samples from Guinea Alumina Corporation S.A. (GAC), Guinea’s largest development project.
Emirates Global Aluminium said that the facility will also be available for third party users as an alternative to existing container facilities in Conakry.
Abu Dhabi Ports will manage EGA’s Kamsar Container Terminal, the first operation for the company in the West African country.
EGA is developing its facilities in the port of Kamsar to allow loading of Capesize and Newcastlemax vessels which are three to four times larger than current shipping options, for the export of bauxite to China and other markets. The size of the vessels reduces shipping costs per tonne, increasing the global competitiveness of Guinea’s bauxite exports. During the fourth quarter of this year the first high-quality bauxite samples will be sent from EGA’s Guinea concession to China and India.
“This project remains an important milestone for my development program for Guinea. Indeed, the export of bauxite at first then an alumina production plant would strengthen Guinea’s position on the global market and enable local processing of bauxite and with it the development of the mining sector,” Condé said.
Guinea has around 7 billion tonnes of bauxite resources, over a quarter of the global total.
GAC’s bauxite mine in the Boké region of north-west Guinea, where it holds a concession on more than one billion tonnes of bauxite, is scheduled to start commercial production in 2018 and grow to 12 Mtpa.
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