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Sources say that Guinea wants to revoke EGA's license over the alumina refinery dispute

People familiar with the matter said that the Guinean government's decision to revoke Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA's) mining license was due to the company's failure in fulfilling its commitment to build an alumina refining plant.

Reports on Wednesday indicated that Guinea had begun a process of revoking the EGA license, intensifying a dispute which began in October when the Emirati firm's mining and bauxite-export operations were suspended.

Guinea's move, as the second largest bauxite producer in the world, could disrupt global supply chains for aluminium and signal the country's increasing hostility toward foreign miners, especially since the September 2021 junta is pushing more local processing.

Sources close to the matter, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized speakers, said that "the Guinean government took action after EGA failed to fulfill its promise to construct an alumina refining plant."

Second source in the Guinean Ministry of Mines said that officials sent a final letter of reminder to EGA about its refinery obligations, but EGA did not respond.

Source: The letter's main point was the financing of the refinery.

Emirates Global Aluminium is owned equally by Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala and Dubai sovereign fund Investment Corporation of Dubai. It began operating in Guinea through its Guinea Aluminium Corporation subsidiaries in 2019. By 2022, it will export around 14 million tons of bauxite.

In June 2024, EGA's local affiliate signed a nonbinding agreement for the construction of a refinery with a capacity of 2 million metric tons by September 2026.

Sources and a mining company that was contracted by the company to perform operations claim that the company declared force majeure when its bauxite sales were suspended in October of last year. This forced hundreds of employees to go on furlough.

In a Wednesday statement, the company stated that it is working with Guinea in order to resolve this issue and resume its operations. Saliou Samb, in Conakry; Hadeel al Sayegh, in Dubai; and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila, in Dakar. Writing by Bate Felis. Editing by Sharon Singleton.

(source: Reuters)