DUBAI: The upstream possibilities are coming together nicely for Emirates Global Aluminium, the Dubai and Abu Dhabi government-owned manufacturer with an output of 2.4 million tonnes a year. It is moving closer to the commissioning of an alumina refinery located next to its aluminium smelter in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi. And this would then tie in to the bauxite — a key raw material for aluminium — mine concession that EGA already has the rights to in Guinea, the West African nation.
“Once our mine in Guinea becomes operational, we will evaluate and determine the requirement for sourcing bauxite from them,” said Yousuf Al Bastaki, Executive Vice-President — Upstream at EGA. “Our concession contains more than 1 billion tonnes of some of the highest quality bauxite in the world and will have a production capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum, starting from 2018.
“As well as securing high-quality bauxite for our production facilities in the UAE, the mine will also give us a new, substantial revenue stream through significant exports to Asia.” (The official declined to mention how long EGA will have the mining concession for. EGA owns Guinea Alumina Corp., a mining development company focused on advancing its bauxite and alumina export project.)
