A protracted period of low world market prices coupled with the slowing down of China’s economy continues to ensure the ongoing underperformance of Guyana’s bauxite industry, newly appointed Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman disclosed at a press conference held at the Cara Lodge Hotel on Wednesday.
While announcing that government will make production figures for bauxite available “later this week,” the Minister dropped a broad hint that those figures are unlikely to make encouraging reading.
Trotman disclosed that currently the relative sluggishness in the Chinese economy had meant that the Chinese Nanchuan Minerals Group whose subsidiary, Bosai Minerals, runs Guyana’s bauxite mining and processing operations in Linden and which produces the well-known RASC refractory bauxite as well as cement grade bauxite had fared worse than the RUSAL-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI). RUSAL replaced the Aroaima Mining Company and began operations here in 2004.
BCGI possesses a reported production capacity of 2.3 million tonnes of bauxite annually though the company’s multi- million dollar 2013 investment in a new deposit, Kurubuku 22, located at Aroaima in the Berbice river and has seen the creation of infrastructure designed to step up operations on areas of crushing, drying and on-loading bauxite for export.
While Trotman provided no statistical clues as to 2015 production figures and how these compare even with the immediately preceding years, it is known that both companies have, in recent years, been attracting public attention for reasons that have little bearing on their bauxite production.
The attendant dust problems at Linden arising out of what residents of the community contended was a lack of attention on the part of BOSAI to environmental considerations led to a period of strained relations between the company and the community.
BCGI, meanwhile, has had to endure a slew of worker and union criticism over allegations of mistreatment of workers and inattention to safety and health considerations.
A recent report arising out of an official visit to the company’s Berbice operations cited nineteen official concerns with aspects of the company’s operations.
At Wednesday’s press conference Trotman said that government was aware of the concerns that were being expressed and was committed to engaging the company.
