Top bauxite exporters from Africa: Guinea remains the leading bauxite supplier while China drives the export

Africa is contributing about 32% of the global bauxite resources. It’s an irony that some of the poorest countries in the world possess the richest bauxite reserves. Africa, though poorly explored as of date, does possess some of the richest reserves of Gibbsitic bauxite. The known reserves are mostly concentrated in Guinea, Ghana and Sierra Leone but there are vast areas lying between tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn that are yet to be explored and exploited.

Despite so, around 19% of the total bauxite production of the world has been coming from the African mining industry. Despite the political unrest and overall under development in the region, African countries are providing feedstock to some the world’s most significant aluminium producers and a large number of them are taking a serious look at developing some major production bases in the region. We are looking at the top five bauxite exporters from Africa.

Guinea

Guinea is the most significant Bauxite supplier to the world with 7.4 billion bauxite reserve which is about 25% of the world’s total bauxite reserves. The country accounts for 95% of African bauxite production and 15% of world bauxite production according to the latest data from US Geological Survey.  

Guinea has started 2018 with big export plans. La Guineenne des Mines (GDM) announced it aims to export 2 to 4 million tonnes bauxite this year. The African nation stands to dominate the world as the top bauxite supplier of 2018. Global trade data suggests in 2016, Guinea exported 24.5 million tonnes of bauxite globally and the volume increased to 42 million in 2017. The total revenue from the export stood at US$ 1149 million and 485 million respectively.

China the top producer of aluminium and the biggest importer of bauxite globally imported 29 million tonnes of bauxite from Guinea in 2017. In December only, Chinese bauxite imports from Guinea totalled 3 million tonnes. 

Guinea’s total bauxite export is expected to reach an estimated 50 million tonnes in 2018 and the revenue is estimated to stand at US$ 425 million.

Ghana

Ghana has proven reserves of about 160 million tonnes of bauxite. Ghana signed an agreement with China that may culminate in the development of a $10 billion bauxite venture that will include the construction of alumina refineries and railway infrastructure.

According to recent estimates, in 2016, Ghana exported 1 million tonnes of bauxite globally and the volume increased to 1.1 million in 2017. The total revenue from the export stood at US$ 82 million and 15 million respectively. In 2018, the country is estimated to export around 1.8 million tonnes of bauxite and the revenue from export is estimated to be about US$ 36 million.

Sierra Leone

Sierra Minerals owns the only bauxite mine in Sierra Leone and is the second largest mining employer in the country. The mine has about 31 million tonnes of bauxite reserve and it produces around 1.2 million tonnes per annum for export.  Other than that, there are a few small players mining and exporting the mineral.  

According to recent estimates, in 2016, Sierra Leone exported 1.4 million tonnes of bauxite globally and the volume increased to 1.6 in 2017. The total revenue from the export stood at US$ 60 million and 61 million respectively. In 2018, the country is estimated to export around 1.3 million tonnes of bauxite and the revenue from export is estimated to be about US$ 536 million.

Countries like Mozambique, Cameroon, Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa also have bauxite reserves which have been explored scarcely. There is no significant data available for bauxite production from these countries.

Mina Alumina has an operating bauxite mine situated in Manica Province, Mozambique. It is the only bauxite mine in operation in Southern Africa, the nearest alternative being in Tanzania. It has been worked almost continuously since 1935. The family owned company has a capacity of 12,000 tpa. The reserves are estimated at 2 million tonnes. The production of bauxite in mine in Penhalong in Manica kept decreasing since 2012 and stood at about 3,000 tons in 2016, because of the economic and financial crisis in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, the main market to which they export.

According to the Cameroonian government, the bauxite potential of Cameroon ranks fifth in the world. There are deposits in Minim Martap near Ngaoundal, north of Cameroon. Cameroon Alumina Limited (CAL, a joint venture of Dubai Aluminium (45%), Hindalco Indian (45%) and American Hydromine (10%) was formed in 2009 to mine bauxite there.

Based on the exploration results, the bauxite reserves are estimated at 554 million tons and mineable reserves stand at 458 million tons.  CAL had found a bauxite reserve of 550 million tonnes in 2010, located at Ngaoundal, in Adamaoua. They requested for a mining permit to start operations in 2013 and proposed to produce 4.5 to 9 million tonnes of bauxite every year, but the exploration did not take off. According to a recent media update, Indian operators are going to relaunch the long-awaited CAL bauxite mining project and revive the proposed Greenfield project involving bauxite mining, a 3 million-tonnes-per-annum alumina refinery, and associated infrastructure.

According to an update from proactiveinvestors Australia, Lindian Resources Ltd is set to start drilling at the Lushoto Bauxite Project in Tanzania. Lindian identified and mapped three new outcropping bauxite mineralised areas at its Lushoto bauxite project in Tanzania in October 2017. The company however has not divulged on the minable bauxite reserves.

Nigeria and South Africa have bauxite reserves that have not been explored commercially.