RUSAL, Govt. sign MOU on bauxite investment
Guyana Chronicle
February 7, 2004
GINA -- Guyana and Russia will soon be cooperating in the arena of bauxite production.
Prime Minister Sam Hinds yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Yuri M. Lysov, the technical head of RUSAL, a Russian Aluminium Company.
The MOU stems from a recent visit by a four-member team of technical experts from RUSAL, a Russian Aluminium Company, who undertook initial data collection, with regard to opportunities for the supply of Metallurgical Grade Bauxite (MAZ) for alumina refineries of RUSAL.
The basis for the visit by RUSAL was also to study the possibility of setting up a joint venture for metallurgical bauxite mining and export from Guyana, as well as the rehabilitation of alumina production.
As part of the MOU, the parties agreed that the "potential exists to produce and to supply to RUSAL amounts of 500-600,000 tonnes per year of metallurgical bauxite, beginning January 2005," with specific characteristics and at competitive prices.
The two parties also agreed to "consider the prospect of setting up a joint venture between RUSAL and the state-owned bauxite company to mine and export metallurgical bauxite based on increased production," for which a feasibility study will be conducted.
In the long term, the GOG and RUSAL also agreed to "consider the prospect of the restart of alumina production at the Mc Kenzie Alumina Refinery, supplied by bauxite from the Linden Group of Deposits.
During its visit, which ran from January 26 to February 8, the group visited the bauxite deposits of LINMINE, BERMINE and Aroaima Bauxite Company. At those mines, the group acquainted itself with mining operations, beneficiation and calcinations of bauxite, as well as river and seaports for the shipping of bauxite.
The information garnered by the RUSAL team confirmed Guyana's large-scale reserves of high quality bauxite for export and production of Alumina locally.
The Guyana/Russia bauxite cooperation was cemented through an initial visit made by RUSAL last March. That visit was followed closely by the President's trip to Russia, when he used the opportunity to further push for cooperation on the bauxite front.