Bauxite resources from Chalco’s Boffa mine project soon to arrive at a Chinese port

Aluminium Corporation of China Limited, popularly known as Chalco, has reported in a written statement that it is all set to send its shipment from a bauxite mine in Boffa, Guinea. A large ocean-going ship laden with high-quality bauxite from Boffa will soon arrive at the Fangchenggang port in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, said the company on Wednesday, June 24.

Chalco’s Boffa bauxite mine project is a major cooperation between China and Guinea. The project started its construction work in 2018 and is about to complete two months ahead of schedule.

Industry analysts believe that this project will not only bring mutual benefits and win-win results for both sides but will also become an important source of overseas bauxite resources for Chalco.

"China's mining companies have been going overseas to secure a stable supply of raw materials. Chalco, the largest State-owned aluminum producer, has entered into an agreement to develop the Boffa bauxite in Guinea, in order to increase its self-sufficiency in bauxite to 75 percent by the end of 2021," said Zhu Yi, a senior analyst for metals and mining at Bloomberg.

According to Zhu, the full-production ramp-up of the Boffa bauxite mine to 12 million tonnes per annum could elevate Chalco’s bauxite output by 80 per cent by the end of 2021.

Zhu said Chalco had been investing in increasing its self-sufficiency for raw materials such as bauxite and alumina and increasing its ratio of captive power to reduce primary aluminium production costs.

Besides, China is putting efforts to push forward the construction of new infrastructure as well, which include next-generation information networks, 5G applications, and building more new energy vehicle charging facilities to promote the wider use of NEVs, as per a report.

This new infrastructure once built is expected to boost China’s aluminium consumption and push for structural changes to produce more value-added products with China.

Xu Xianping, a former deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the country's investment in "new infrastructure" is expected to reach 17.5 trillion yuan ($2.47 trillion) for the 2020-2025 period, up by 21.6 percent annually.

Chalco said that since the COVID-19 pandemic is growing across the world, it has hired some local medical teams to provide guidance and support to workers at the Boffa bauxite project. Chalco has also teamed up with local partners to ensure a smooth operation of the project.

The firm has donated a huge amount of pandemic-prevention supplies as well, such as masks, gloves, protective clothing, and medical equipment worth more than 1.54 million yuan to several countries.