RUSAL signs an agreement on the operation of infrastructure in Guinea

RUSAL, the world leader in the production of aluminum, announces the signing of a multilateral agreement to use the railway infrastructure of the Boke province in Guinea as part of the Dian-Dian project to accelerate the development of a large bauxite deposit.

The agreement reached during the Paris talks involves the common use of key infrastructure, including the railway and the port at Boka, by the state-owned Guinea Bauxite Company, the local subsidiary of Russian Rusal known as COBAD and GAC, Global Aluminum and the Guinea Alumina Corporation. The agreement allows the transportation of bauxite, including the Dian-Dian mining, using the existing rail system in the Boke province, as well as the further development of transport infrastructure.

RUSAL launched the Dian-Dian bauxite project last year. Dian-Dian is the world's largest deposit with 564 million tonnes of bauxite reserves, which are used for the production of aluminum oxide and the production of aluminum. The company plans to invest $ 220 million in the first phase of the project, which envisages the construction of a mine with an annual capacity of 3 million tons of bauxite by 2016 with the potential to increase to 6 million tons per year. A phased increase in the production, transportation, storage and processing of bauxite is envisaged.

The first phase of the project, including the construction of a mine at Sangaredi in the Boke region, is expected to cost Global Aluminum, an Emirati-owned company. In addition to the rail agreement, Global Aluminum signed agreements related to the use of the Kamsar port and the financing of the construction of a new ore terminal.

The President of Guinea in December 2013 issued a decree on the Dian-Dian Project (COBAD), which gave it national status. RUSAL CEO Vladislav Soloviev noted that the Dian-Dian project plays an important role both for Guinea, creating transport corridors to the country's fields, and for RUSAL in ensuring the raw material security of the company's production. The reached agreement on the joint use of infrastructure is the first in the history of African states that provides for the pooling of state and business resources to implement a major project in line with the plans of Guinea's leadership.