Latest update January 3rd, 2025 1:39 AM
Rusal set to break 1.4 million tonnes by yearend
Russian-owned bauxite company, Rusal, has broken the million tonnes mark and is set to surpass
Russian Ambassador Nikolay Smirnov
previous production levels, an official has said.
According to Nikolay Smirnov, the Russian Federation Ambassador to Guyana, the company is likely to extract a total of 1.4 million tonnes of ore at the end of the year.
Rusal, through its local subsidiary, Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI), was founded in December 2004 under an agreement between Rusal and the Government of Guyana. Rusal owns a 90% stake in the company – the remaining 10% belong to the Guyana government.
Earlier this year, BCGI reported that its bauxite production declined marginally in 2010
as compared to its performance in 2009.
According to Rusal’s annual report for 2010, while in 2009, the company’s production reached levels of 1.2 million metric tonnes of bauxite, the company in 2010 only managed 800,000
metric tonnes, a decline of 33%.
The report said, however, that production at BCGI stabilized and reached planned levels at the end of the year 2010.
According to the report, revenue earned by BCGI in 2010 was in the order of US$28M, down from a revenue collection of US$29M in 2009.
According to the Ambassador, the performance of Rusal would be encouraging given the terrain and transportation challenges faced at the operations located at Aroaima, Region 10.
Recently, Smirnov disclosed, the company invested in more heavy equipment as part of its expansion plans.
The ambassador does not immediately foresee any problems with the new Donald Ramotar-led administration which may review the operating licences and other arrangements with the company.
Rusal was under fire from its workers’ union back in 2009 and within recent months after 50-odd workers were fired following strike actions over working conditions.
In 2006, Rusal acquired the assets of Aroiama Mining Company from the Government of Guyana and transferred them to the Bauxite Company of Guyana.
Rusal owns licences to develop Linden and Ituni deposits groups in Guyana. (Leonard Gildarie)
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