Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC (EGA) announced last week that its subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation has shipped one million metric tons of bauxite ore from the west African nation since production began in August.

Per the firm, the US$1.4-billion project is continuing to ramp up production at the site. Though they did not mention the project’s current rate of production, the firm indicated that it would ramp up operations to a production rate of 12 million metric tons per annum in the near future.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, elaborated on the firm’s progress in Guinea. 

“We are making good progress with our production ramp-up in Guinea, with mine, rail and port facilities all performing as planned. Many of our facilities are already running at design capacity, and the quality of bauxite we are producing for our customers is on target. Our priority throughout ramp-up and for the decades of production ahead is the safety of the 1,000 staff and contractors who work at GAC.”

Guinea Alumina Corporation is one of the biggest greenfield projects the country has seen in four decades. The project provides bauxite ore to third-party buyers, most of whom hail from the People’s Republic of China and India.

GAC joins the alumina refinery at Al Taweelah as twin expansions by the firm into the aluminium upstream value chain. EGA says it uses revenue derived from both projects to aid it in securing needed raw materials at favorable prices.

Based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Emirates Global Aluminium is an aluminium conglomerate created by the merger between Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) and Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) in 2013. EGA had an estimated enterprise value of US$15 billion at the time the merger took place. The firm is owned equally by Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai. Emirates Global Aluminium holds interests in bauxite/alumina and primary aluminium smelting.