The Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) and RUSAL have agreed to develop bauxite mining and processing operations in Ghana, including a 1.2 million-tonne-a-year alumina refinery at Nyinahin.
The agreement was signed in Moscow during the Russia-Africa Forum and requires RUSAL, one of the world’s largest aluminium producers, to build and operate the refinery using bauxite from the Nyinahin deposit. The facility will be powered by natural gas.
GIADEC Acting Chief Executive Officer Reindorf Twumasi Ankrah said the plans would be delivered through two joint ventures, Nyinahini Bauxite Ltd and Ghana Alumina Company.
RUSAL will finance the projects and hold a majority stake in both companies. The refinery is expected to cost more than $1.5 billion and take about 36 months to complete, Mr Ankrah said.
“The agreement fully aligns with GIADEC’s goal of establishing an integrated aluminium industry in Ghana that will enable us to process our bauxite domestically,” he said.
“In RUSAL, a company with extensive technological expertise and many years of successful experience in Africa, we have found a partner capable of delivering on these objectives. The Nyinahin projects will bring investment, thousands of jobs, improvements to rail and port infrastructure, and new opportunities for Ghanaian businesses.”
Mining and processing plans
RUSAL Chief Executive Officer Evgeny Nikitin said the partnership was an important part of the company’s plan to strengthen its raw material base.
“Our agreement with GIADEC marks an important step in implementing RUSAL’s strategy to strengthen its own raw material base. Ghana has some of the largest undeveloped bauxite reserves in West Africa, and we see an opportunity to establish an integrated production chain here – from mining 5 million tonnes of ore per year to producing 1.2 million tonnes of alumina,” he said.
A RUSAL spokesperson added: “RUSAL has been operating in Africa for more than 20 years, and this experience will enable us to implement the Ghanaian projects efficiently, from design through to reaching full production capacity.”
The collaboration will also include joint exploration of newly identified hills in Ghana’s Bono, Western, Ashanti and Eastern Regions. The work will assess whether the reserves in those areas are commercially viable.
GIADEC said Ghana would have broad involvement in the projects beyond its equity participation in the two joint ventures.
That involvement is expected to include employment during the construction and operational phases, opportunities for local contractors and suppliers, and improvements to the country’s transport infrastructure.
The corporation said the development would support the local economy while helping Ghana establish a more integrated aluminium industry by processing bauxite domestically.
