Dubai-based aluminum giant Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) has lost its raw material assets in Guinea due to non-compliance with the terms of the concession.

Last week, the Guinean subsidiary of the GAC Aluminum Corporation terminated all employment contracts and contracts after the Government of Guinea cancelled the concession agreement and transferred the bauxite mining license issued by GAC to the newly created state-owned company. The government's decision is justified by the concessionaire's failure to fulfill a contractual obligation to build an alumina refinery for bauxite processing.

The agreement on the transfer to EGA of the rights to develop the Sangarédi bauxite plateau deposit in northwestern Guinea was signed in 2013. Production began only in 2019, almost two years later than originally planned. The construction of a bauxite-alumina processing plant has not started. Exports of bauxite produced by EGA decreased to 10.8 million tons last year, compared with 14 million tons in 2023, as exports have already been suspended since October. The area, which was planned to be developed by 2040, contains almost 400 million tons of bauxite.