Last update:
2019-03-22

Bauxite Mines on the Sangaredi Plateau & Kamsar port installations, involving the multinationals Alcoa, Rio Tinto and Dadco, Guinea

CBG is the first bauxite company in Guinea, operating since 1973 in Sangarédi plateau at the expense of the local inhabitants' health and environment.



Description:

En Français ci-dessous -------- The Boké region is known for its abundant mineral resources, particularly for its bauxite deposits. The Bauxite Company of Guinea (CBG thereafter) initiated the exploitation of bauxite in Boké. Since 1973, CBG has been operating several mines on the Sangaredi Plateau and an aluminum plant on the port of Kamsar. Despite the exploitation of bauxite for half a century, the villages near CBG mines do not benefit from the extractive activity. On the contrary, they suffer negative consequences while their concerns are not being taken care of nor by the public authorities or by the company. 

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Basic Data
Name of conflict:Bauxite Mines on the Sangaredi Plateau & Kamsar port installations, involving the multinationals Alcoa, Rio Tinto and Dadco, Guinea
Country:Guinea
State or province:Boké
Location of conflict:town of Sangaredi
Accuracy of locationHIGH (Local level)
Source of Conflict
Type of conflict. 1st level:Mineral Ores and Building Materials Extraction
Type of conflict. 2nd level:Tailings from mines
Mineral processing
Pollution related to transport (spills, dust, emissions)
Specific commodities:Aluminum/Bauxite
Project Details and Actors
Project details

En Francias ci-dessous ----------- Guinea is the second largest bauxite producer in the world after Australia. The country's bauxite reserves are estimated to 25 billion tonnes, one third of the world's today known reserves. Despite its abundant mineral resources, Guinea remains a very poor country and the benefits for its population remain derisory. A new mining code was adopted in Guinea in 2011 and it was amended in 2013. The stated objective of this new mining code was to reconcile increased private foreign investment and a guarantee revenue for the State. Yet tax revenues are not redistributed within local communities, and the populations most affected by mining operations are the ones who benefit least. The law imposes transparency on contracts and environmental impact assessments but the concerned populations remain very little informed [1]. This creates a lot of discontent. Compagnie des Bauxite Guinée (thereafter CBG) was created in 1963 by the Guinean government and the company Halco (Mining) Inc. The later is owned by a consortium formed by the mining transnational companies Alcoa, Rio Tinto and Dadco Investments Limited. Halco (Mining) Inc. is the exclusive owner of Boke Investment Company. Boke Investment Company owns 51% of CBG and the 49% remaining are owned by the Guinean government. CBG is the largest bauxite producing company in Guinea with four open pit mines in Sangaredi plateau: Sangarédi, Bidikoum, Silidara and N’Dangara. The exploitation of the Sangaredi mine started in 1973 and the mineral was exported from the Kamsar port where CBG also runs an aluminium plant. The construction of the Kamsar harbour and the 135km long railway between Sangarédi mine and Kamsar were constructed thanks to a $ 115 million World Bank loan. The company extended its activities to Bidikoum open pit in 1992, to Silidara in 1997 and to N’Dangara in 2007 [2]. For the opening of Bidikoum mine, CBG received funds from the African Development Bank (UA 85.98 million) [3]. In Sangarédi deposit, the bauxite contains more than 50% alumina. In 2014, the company achieved its exportation record level at 15.24 million tons of high-grade bauxite [4]. Its mining rights have been extended until 2038. CBG employs 2.400 employees. The production capacity is aimed to increase to 18.5 million tons by the end of 2017 and to 22.5 million tons by 2022. To do so, CBG will invest $ 1 billion in the expansion of the port and plant in Kamsar (sum added in “Level of Investment”). These constructions will require the displacement of Hamdallaye and Fassaly Foutahbe towns [5]. The International Finance Corporation provides with $ 200 million in this investment plan [6]. The capacity of the Kamsar-Sangaredi rail corridor is to be increased from 15 million tonnes to 42 million tonnes by mid-2020s. Several other European and US banks and institutions are involved in the financing of CBG. “[The] U.S. government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation [provided] an additional $150 million [additional to the IFC $200 million dollars loan]. A further $473 million came from a syndicate of commercial banks: France’s Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Natixis; the German affiliate of ING bank, ING-DiBa; and two Guinean banks, Société Générale de Banques en Guinée and Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l’Industrie de la Guinée, a member of the BNP Paribas group. The German government guaranteed a portion of the financing through its Untied Loan Guarantees program.” [7]

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Level of Investment for the conflictive project1,000,000,000.00
Type of populationRural
Affected Population:400,000
Start of the conflict:2015
Company names or state enterprises:Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) from Guinea
Halco (Mining), Inc. from Guinea - Owns 51% of CBG, major shareholder
Alcoa Alumínio S/A from United States of America - Owns 45% of Halco (Mining), Inc.
Rio Tinto (Rio Tinto ) from United Kingdom
Dadco Investments Limited from Switzerland - Owns 10% of Halco (Mining), INc.
Relevant government actors:Ministère des Mines, Ministère de l'environnement, gouvernements des Etats-Unis et allemand.
International and Finance InstitutionsThe World Bank (WB) from United States of America
Overseas Private Investment Corporation from United States of America
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
African Development Bank (AfDB) from Ivory Coast
Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available:Action Mines Guinée - http://actionminesguinee.org/
Centre du Commerce International pour le Developpement (CECIDE), Association pour le développement rural et l’entraide mutuelle en Guinée (ADREMGUI), l'organisation Inclusive Development International, Human Rights Watch
Conflict & Mobilization
IntensityMEDIUM (street protests, visible mobilization)
Reaction stageMobilization for reparations once impacts have been felt
Groups mobilizing:Farmers
Local ejos
Neighbours/citizens/communities
Pastoralists
Forms of mobilization:Development of a network/collective action
Involvement of national and international NGOs
Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism
Public campaigns
Street protest/marches
Strikes
Impacts
Environmental ImpactsVisible: Air pollution, Soil contamination, Food insecurity (crop damage), Reduced ecological / hydrological connectivity, Other Environmental impacts, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Oil spills
Other Environmental impactsLoss of soil fertility , oil spills in Kamsar port, toxic dusts, loss of land for agriculture
Health ImpactsVisible: Exposure to unknown or uncertain complex risks (radiation, etc…), Other Health impacts
Potential: Malnutrition
Socio-economical ImpactsVisible: Lack of work security, labour absenteeism, firings, unemployment, Loss of livelihood, Violations of human rights, Increase in Corruption/Co-optation of different actors, Displacement, Specific impacts on women, Land dispossession, Loss of landscape/sense of place
Outcome
Project StatusIn operation
Conflict outcome / response:Corruption
Deaths, Assassinations, Murders
Migration/displacement
Strengthening of participation
Proposal and development of alternatives:Allocate funds for local development and better protect the inhabitants and their sources of livelihoods from the pollution of the mines' operations, the transport of the bauxite and its manufacture process. Increase transparency
--------- Français -------- Allocation de fonds pour le dévelopement local et une meilleure protection des populations face à la pollution provoquée par les activités minières, le transport de la bauxite et son traitement en usine avant son exportation. Améliorer la transparence des décisions et allocation des fonds perçus.
Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?:No
Briefly explain:None of the locals' claims have been achieved.
Aucune demande n'a obtenu satisfaction.
Sources & Materials
Juridical relevant texts related to the conflict (laws, legislations, EIAs, etc)

Cadre juridique et réglementaire, Guinée
[click to view]

Code Minier, Mining Code
[click to view]

References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries

[3]African Development Bank, Republic of Guinea, Guinea Bauxite Company, Rheabilitation Project (CBG), Project Completion Report, June 2005
[click to view]

[5] DRAFT - Plan d’action de réinstallation et de compensation Hamdallaye et Fassaly Foutahbe, EEM, 19/10/215

Dan Lansana KOUROUMA, Évaluation des impacts environnementaux du projet d’exploitation des gisements de bauxite de N’Dangara et de Boundou Waadé en Guinée, Centre d’Étude et de Recherche en Environnement (CÉRE), Université de Conakry, 2008
[click to view]

[2] Historique Industriel, CBG, Avril 2011
[click to view]

[4] Guinea Bauxite Company (CBG), Republic of Guinea, Ministry of Mines and Geology
[click to view]

[6] Mining for long-term change in Guinea, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group
[click to view]

[7] Thirteen Guinean villages lodge complaint against World Bank for financing destructive bauxite mine, March 2019
[click to view]

[7] Treize villages portent plainte contre la banque mondiales pour le financement d'une mine de bauxite nocive, Mars 2019
[click to view]

Guinée : la bauxite au coeur des émeutes de Boké, TV5 Monde, 30/04/2017
[click to view]

Origine de la CBG, Avril 2011
[click to view]

Amadou Bah, Mise en oeuvre de l'Itié-Guinée: Action Mines met en place les Cetié de Boké et de Kindia, Action Mines Guinée, 30/12/2016
[click to view]

Alcoa, Guinea
[click to view]

Tim Cocks, Guinea town's unrest a cautionary tale for African mining, Place, May 12, 2017
[click to view]

Riots hit major bauxite mining hub in Guinea, Reuters, April 26, 2017
[click to view]

Supervision de la construction de la voie N'Dangara - voie et signalisation, Canarail
[click to view]

Bauxite ships loading at Guinea's Kamsar -official, Reuters, February 19, 2007
[click to view]

Rio Tinto Alcan: bienfait ou malédiction pour la Guinée?, LaPresse.ca, 20/10/2008
[click to view]

Fin des travaux du Comité Technique de la CBG, CBG website
[click to view]

Bauxite ships loading at Guinea's Kamsar -official, Reuters, 17/02/2007
[click to view]

Kamsar : risque de violence ce lundi dans la cité minière…, Africa Guinee, 01/05/2017
[click to view]

Aliou Barry, Bauxite : pourquoi la Guinée court un grave risque écologique, Le Point Afrique, 18/01/2017
[click to view]

Gestion minière : Les conseils de Gisela Granado, la Directrice pays de l’ITIE à la jeunesse guinéenne, 25/11/2015
[click to view]

The African towns falling into decline and poverty after mining companies use resources then exit, January 16, 2017
[click to view]

Guinée: les raisons de la colère à Boké, centre de l'exploitation de la bauxite, RFi Afrique, 28 Avril 2017
[click to view]

Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network

[1] Guinée, Contestation de la Gestion des Minerais, 20 Juillet 2017
[click to view]

Les voix des communautés riveraines des zones minières en Guinée, Film documentaire sur l'exploitation de la bauxite en Guinée, Action Mines Guinée, Aout 2016
[click to view]

Meta information
Contributor:EnvJustice Project, Camila Rolando Mazzuca
Last update18/08/2019
Conflict ID:2947
Comments
Legal notice / Aviso legal
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