EGA chooses Fluor to manage Guinea construction contracts

Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced that its subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation has awarded an engineering and programme management consultancy contract for its under-construction bauxite mine in the Republic of Guinea in West Africa to Fluor Corporation.

 

The total value of contracts and purchases to be managed by Fluor is approximately $700 million.

 

Fluor will work with GAC to develop a 12 million tonne per annum bauxite mine in the Boké region of Guinea, a dedicated export terminal at Kamsar on the Guinean coast, and rail and other infrastructure upgrades.

 

Fluor is a global engineering company headquartered in the United States. Fluor completed the feasibility study for GAC in the second quarter of 2016.

 

EGA is investing $1 billion in the project in total, the largest greenfield investment in Guinea in four decades. The project is expected to contribute 10 per cent to Guinea’s GDP, and create 4,000 direct and indirect jobs.

 

Production is scheduled to begin ramp-up in 2018.

 

Bauxite is the ore from which most of the world’s aluminium is derived. The Guinea project is EGA’s first in bauxite mining, and will help secure the resources needed by the United Arab Emirate’s growing aluminium industry as well as creating a new revenue stream for EGA.

 

Bauxite is refined into alumina which is the feedstock for aluminium smelters. EGA is currently constructing the UAE’s first alumina smelter at Al Taweelah in Abu Dhabi.

 

The aluminium sector in the UAE employs almost 30,000 people, making it the largest employer amongst the country’s energy-intensive industries. EGA is the only producer of primary aluminium in the UAE, and supplies around 20 local downstream companies which make products with its metal.

 

Abdulla Kalban, EGA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The award of this contract is a major step-forward in our Guinea project, which is economically important for both Guinea and the United Arab Emirates. I am pleased with our progress in Guinea so far.”

 

Rick Koumouris, President of Fluor’s Mining & Metals business, said: “Fluor has worked with GAC since the preliminary phase of the project to develop a customized, capital-efficient design to meet the company’s unique business objectives. We will leverage our global expertise in marine structures, port terminals and mineral processing along with our experience in Guinea to deliver innovative design and project execution solutions that improve capital efficiency.” 

 

Last October EGA inaugurated a container terminal facility at Kamsar Port in Guinea. This facility is being used for the export of bulk bauxite samples and the import of equipment for the GAC construction project. On the completion of construction of the project it will be handed to the state for third-party use, creating a further boost for the local economy.