Guinea and EGA Move Toward New Bauxite Supply Agreement

Guinea and Emirates Global Aluminium are moving cautiously toward a new bauxite supply arrangement that could reshape their previously strained relationship. Discussions are underway for EGA to source bauxite from Guinea’s state-owned Nimba Mining, following the revocation of EGA’s mining licence earlier this year. The potential agreement represents a pragmatic effort by both parties to safeguard commercial interests, stabilize supply chains, and avoid costly legal disputes, while aligning with Guinea’s broader strategy of strengthening state participation in the mining sector.

The negotiations stem from Guinea’s decision to revoke the licence of Guinea Alumina Corporation, an EGA subsidiary, after disagreements over the construction timeline of an alumina refinery. Authorities subsequently transferred the mining assets to Nimba Mining, a state-owned entity tasked with managing and monetizing the former concession. This move marked a significant assertion of state authority and reinforced Guinea’s policy stance that mining projects must deliver downstream value addition, rather than focusing solely on raw material exports.

For EGA, securing access to Guinean bauxite remains strategically critical. The company has invested more than USD 1 billion in Guinea over the past decade and, before the licence revocation, was exporting roughly 14 million tons of bauxite annually. Importantly, EGA’s alumina refinery in the United Arab Emirates is specifically engineered to process Guinean bauxite, making alternative sources technically challenging and potentially more expensive. A supply agreement with Nimba Mining would therefore provide continuity for EGA’s refining operations while allowing it to maintain a foothold in one of the world’s most important bauxite regions.

From Guinea’s perspective, the talks offer both economic and political advantages. Nimba Mining has already demonstrated operational momentum by exporting about 680,000 tons of stockpiled ore and has set ambitious targets of 10 million tons of exports in 2026, with plans to reach 14 million tons in subsequent years. The former licence area is estimated to contain around 470 million tons of bauxite reserves, underscoring its long-term strategic value. In parallel, Guinea is advancing plans for a new alumina refinery with a capacity of approximately 1.2 million tons, signaling its intent to capture greater value within the country rather than relying solely on exports of unprocessed ore.

More broadly, this potential agreement reflects Guinea’s evolving mining policy landscape. As the world’s second-largest bauxite exporter and the holder of the largest known bauxite reserves globally, Guinea continues to attract major international mining and metals companies. At the same time, the government is tightening oversight, increasing state control, and emphasizing local beneficiation to boost fiscal revenues, industrial development, and employment. The outcome of the EGA-Nimba negotiations could therefore serve as a template for how Guinea balances foreign investment with national interests in the future.

If successfully concluded, the supply deal could have meaningful implications for Guinea’s mining industry and the wider African extractive sector. It would demonstrate that state-led resource nationalism and foreign investor participation are not mutually exclusive, provided commercial and policy objectives are aligned. For Guinea, such agreements could accelerate downstream industrialization and strengthen public revenues, while for Africa more broadly, they highlight a growing trend toward renegotiating mining arrangements to support long-term economic transformation rather than short-term export gains.

Mini-Glossary

• Bauxite: A sedimentary rock that is the primary raw material used to produce aluminium.
• Alumina refinery: An industrial facility that processes bauxite into alumina, which is later smelted into aluminium metal.
• Downstream value addition: The process of converting raw materials into higher-value products within the producing country.
• Beneficiation: The treatment of raw minerals to improve their economic value before further processing or export.
• State-owned enterprise: A company that is fully or partially owned and operated by a government.

Editor: Vural Burç ÇAKIR