Guinea seeks to revoke EGA’s licence amid alumina refinery dispute, sources indicate

Guinea’s government took away Emirates Global Aluminium’s (EGA) mining license because the company didn’t build an alumina plant as promised, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke to Reuters.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Guinea has started the process to take away the EGA license. This is the latest development in a dispute that started in October when the Emirati company’s mining and sale of bauxite were stopped.

Guinea is the second-largest exporter of bauxite in the world. This move could further upset global aluminum supply chains and shows that the resource-rich country is becoming more hostile toward foreign miners as the junta that took power in September 2021 pushes for more minerals to be processed in Guinea.

A person with knowledge of the situation told The Guardian that the Guinean government acted because EGA broke its promise to build an alumina refinery. The person asked to remain anonymous because they were not allowed to speak publicly.

A second source in Guinea’s Ministry of Mines told Reuters that the government had sent EGA one last letter to remind them of their processing obligations, but the company did not reply.

The person said that money for the refinery was a central theme of the letter.

The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and the Dubai sovereign wealth fund, the Investment Corporation of Dubai, both own equal shares in Emirates Global Aluminum. The company started doing business in Guinea in 2019 through its subsidiary, Guinea Aluminium Corporation, and exported about 14 million metric tons of bauxite in 2022.

The government gave bauxite miners more time to show their refinery plans in May 2022. In June 2024, they signed a non-binding agreement with EGA’s local subsidiary for a 2 million metric ton refinery to be built by September 2026.

The company had to declare “force majeure” when its bauxite exports were stopped in October of last year. As a result, sources and a company hired to do mining operations say that hundreds of workers were put on leave.

The company told Reuters on Wednesday that it was working with Guinea to find a solution so that business could restart.