Guinea Alumina Corporation has produced almost 6.4mn dry metric tonnes of bauxite ore since start-up
Emirates Global Aluminium recently marked one year since the first bauxite was exported from its wholly-owned mining subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation (GSC).
In its first year of production, GAC has exported over 6.1mn dry metric tonnes of bauxite ore to customers around the world, whilst maintaining a world-class safety performance.
The start-up of GAC in August 2019, and first production at EGA’s alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi earlier in 2019, completed EGA’s strategic expansion upstream in the aluminium value chain and internationally.
“We are making good progress with the ramp-up of GAC, and performance is in line with our plans,” commented Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO, EGA.
EGA’s GAC project was one of the largest greenfield investments in Guinea in the last 40 years, and cost some $1.4bn to develop.
GAC uses trains to transport bauxite ore from its mine inland to the coast. Each train is capable of carrying 10,200 tonnes of ore, which is a similar weight to the Eiffel Tower. So far GAC’s trains have made 722 journeys from the mine to the coast.
Bauxite ore is transported from GAC’s jetty at the port of Kamsar by self-propelled barge to a trans-shipment point operated in deeper water. This enables EGA to export bauxite ore from GAC using bulk cargo vessels that are among the world’s largest, including Capesize ships. GAC has exported some 40 cargoes so far.
