According to Mining News Pro - The world’s top bauxite exporter has a law that gives it the right to ship 50% of mining companies’ exports, but it hadn’t put it into effect until now, government spokesman Ousmane Gaoual Diallo said in an emailed statement late Thursday.
This will now be exercised directly or through an entity acting on behalf of the state, Diallo said. “The implementation will be done in accordance with international best practices,” he said without specifying how logistics would be handled.
Guinea has been expanding government control over its mining sector since President Mamadi Doumbouya seized power in a Sept. 5 coup. Friday’s announcement comes after Doumbouya suspended mining operations at Simandou, one of the world’s largest untapped iron ore deposits, to force miners to agree on an infrastructure financing plan and provide clarification on how Guinea would benefit.
Despite endemic levels of poverty, the West African nation vies with Australia as China’s largest supplier of bauxite, a reddish ore used to make aluminum.
Ismael Diakite, president of Guinea’s mining chamber, which brings together the country’s miners, including a Rio Tinto Plc unit, China-backed Societe Miniere de Boke, didn’t immediately answer calls requesting comment.
Guinea Junta Causes Jitters, Demands Answers From Mining Sector
Since seizing power in September 2021, Guinea's military junta has increasingly attempted to streamline mining activities and agreements to benefit what leaders have repeatedly dubbed as 'Guinea's interests'.
Guinea is the world's second-largest producer of bauxite, a main source of aluminum. According to the World Bank, Guinea's mining sector contributes approximately 35% to the country's GDP. But the recent upheavals in the sector could threaten the future of the industry.
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and its partners, have been ordered to stop all work on the vast Simandou iron ore project after junta leader and Interim President, Mamady Doumbouya requested that mines clarify how the sector will preserve Guinea's national interests.
The provisional government said that any developer of the mine must also build a railway from Simandou, in the southeast of the country, to the port of Conakry to ship their product overseas. If they do not comply, developers will risk losing the project.
With the future of the Simandou project in doubt, economist Mamady Fanta Keita, warned of potentially devastating consequences for Guineans.