Vietnam authorizes inspection of bauxite projects
Hanoi – The Vietnamese government will send officials to inspect controversial bauxite projects in the Central Highlands from May 7. The information gathered will be reported at the next meeting of the legislative National Assembly (NA), which opens May 20, a government official said Monday.
“This inspection will focus on assessing the environmental impact so as to then work out what measures should be taken to continue it,” said Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s last week ordered a complete review of bauxite mining and smelting projects in the Central Highlands. The Communist Party Politburo had called for a review of all such projects on April 16 statement. Read more
Mining lease for POSCO plant now in legal row
With little groundwork done, the Orissa government signed an mou with South Korean giant posco in 2005. It assured the company of requisite clearances and keeping the area free of all encumbrances. But the state’s magnanimity has not made things easy for posco that plans to set up a Rs 51,000-crore project, including a steel plant and captive port. But after three years, impact assessments haven’t been completed, ground surveys not carried out and the lease for mining has not been secured. In fact, mining lease and forest clearance cases are being heard at the Orissa High Court and the supreme court. Local people who stand to lose their livelihood to the project have been protesting for long. Read more
Angola to Develop New Bauxite Mine
Angola is developing a $500m project to mine three million tonnes of bauxite a year in Guinea-Bissau in a regional investment foray by sub-Saharan Africa’s No 2 oil producer, officials in Bissau said.
The mine would be the single biggest foreign investment in one of the world’s poorest states, with a history of political instability since independence from Portugal in 1974.
Angola Bauxite, part-owned by the Angolan state, paid an up-front fee of $13m to Guinea-Bissau in September for a leased mining concession in the southeastern Boe region.
Guinea-Bissau officials say the Boe deposits are a continuation across the thickly forested border of huge bauxite reserves in neighbouring Guinea, the world’s leading exporter of bauxite, the ore from which aluminium is made. Read more
Bauxite Exploration: Ord River Resources Reports Bauxite Resource Exploration
Ord River Resources announced that exploration by SARCO has identified an independently certified JORC compliant indicated bauxite resource of 62Mt. This resource is present on the Yuqida tenement located in Bolaven Plateau in southern Lao PDR. Further drilling is continuing on the Yuqida tenement with the aim of defining further resources. Drilling will continue through the wet season subject to access and safe working conditions.
Alcoa Announces Cooperation Agreement with Vietnam on Development of Bauxite Mining and Alumina Refineries
Alcoa today announced the signing of a Cooperation Agreement with Vietnam’s premier minerals development company, Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin), for cooperation in development of the aluminum industry in Vietnam.
Under the agreement, Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC) – a global alliance between Alcoa and Alumina Ltd, with Alcoa holding 60 percent — will conduct due diligence, on the acquisition of a 40 percent interest in the 600,000 metric tons per year Nhan Co alumina refinery that is to be constructed in Dak Nong Province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, based on access to extensive reserves of high quality bauxite. If the transaction proceeds, the shareholding in the Joint Stock Company that owns the Nhan Co bauxite mine and alumina refinery will be Vinacomin 51%, AWAC 40% and other investors 9%. Read more
