Baku, Azerbaijan, May 10
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran and Guinea agreed on a proposal to jointly produce bauxite (primary material for production of aluminium) from mines in the African country and its supply to Iran.
The proposal including a feasibility study was approved by Mehdi Karbasian, head of the Iran Mines, Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), and Abdoulaye Magassouba, mines and geology minister of Guinea, IMIDRO reported.
The two parties also agreed on cooperation on terms and financing of the project.
Iran owns 51 percent of Societe des Bauxites de Dabola-Tougue Company and will be authorized to extract bauxite in an area of 5,684 square kilometers, according to the agreement.
The mine’s bauxite reserves are 300 million tons and are of vital importance for Iran’s aluminium projects in the long term.
Upon the agreement, the two sides have undertaken to do their utmost to remove obstacles and limitations to SBDT Company’s project.
Based on the approved roadmap, annually 4 million tons of bauxite will be extracted from the mine and transferred to southern Iran for production of alumina powder.
Alumina is a refined version of the raw ore bauxite. It is typically used to make aluminium, but in its high purity or 'chemical grade' form, it has non-metal applications that have sensitive military uses.
Iran’s aluminium ingot production capacity stands at 487,000 tons per year. The figure is planned to reach 823,000 tons by 2020.
