This year, after months of careful preparation, Shandong Kunhong Mining Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Zibo Zhangdian District State-owned assets Operation Co., Ltd. and Zibo Rendi Aluminum Co., Ltd., came into being. The newly established Shandong Kunhong Mining Co., Ltd., based on the Guinean Jinbo bauxite development project controlled by Zibo Rendi Aluminium, is committed to importing high-quality ores into China to meet the urgent needs of major domestic factories for Guinean bauxite. On December 1st, after 10 days of intense shipping operation, the Guinean Gimbo bauxite development project achieved the successful shipment of 173000 tons of ore from the project's first ship through cooperation with the local bauxite developer AGB2A (AGB2A), using the Gimbo United Port (Kimbo&Co.Port) located in the Fatala River, Bofa Province, Guinea.
The Guinean Gimbo bauxite project, located in the (Fria) province of Fulia, Republic of Guinea, won two bauxite concessions granted by the Guinean government in 2018, with a total area of 838 square kilometers, proven reserves of 498 million tons and prospective reserves of 1.5 billion tons. Jinbo United Port, which is constructed and operated by Yantai Port of Shandong Port Group, now has two 8000-ton berths, of which the No. 1 berth is a gravity structure with two 40-ton fixed cranes for loading berths, and the No. 2 berth is a high-piled pier and abutment structure, which is currently used as a berth to be berthed. The port now has an annual shipping capacity of 15 million tons.
Guinean double Aluminum Company (AGB2A) owns the mining rights of two mining areas, GBT and AXIS, in the (Boffa) province of Bofa, Guinea, with ore reserves of more than 320 million tons, with an average grade of more than 45% of aluminum oxide and less than 3% of silicon dioxide. so far, more than 1.1 million tons of ore have been exported through its Kokaya port on the Fatala River in Bofa province.
Since the novel coronavirus epidemic in the world, mining development in Guinea has suffered a major blow. In the face of crisis, two bauxite development projects located in the Bofa-Fulia Mining Corridor have joined hands and, with the strong assistance of the Guinean government and Yantai Port of the Mountain Port Group, have begun strategic cooperation based on the sharing of mining infrastructure, taking advantage of the regional advantages of the port in the Fatala River. The existing ore transportation roads and ports of the two projects have been connected to each other in a short period of time. After 10 months of running-in, the unfavorable factors such as the military coup in Guinea and the epidemic situation of novel coronavirus have been overcome, and a brand-new logistics platform with high efficiency, full process and low cost has been formed.
The Jinbo-double aluminum mining logistics platform reduces the loading time to 5 to 6 days, which has now been radiated to the mining areas of other mining companies along the Bofa-Fulia mining corridor, which will provide a strong logistics guarantee for the continuous and stable production of the surrounding mining enterprises. This integrated mining logistics platform will make the development of mining resources along the Bofa-Fulia mining corridor a reality, where many mining projects have been shelved for years due to a lack of necessary infrastructure, according to statistics from the Ministry of Geology and Minerals of Guinea, the reserves of industrial-grade bauxite along the corridor alone reach more than 3 billion tons, involving dozens of bauxite development companies, including Chinese companies.
In 2022, the two sides plan to invest in their respective infrastructure and mining development, which will double the shipping capacity of existing logistics platforms. The sharing of mining infrastructure integrates the existing mining transport routes in Guinea, in line with the actual needs of mining development in Guinea, and maximizes the protection of agricultural activities and the natural environment, thereby reducing the impact on the environment, it was highly praised by the Transitional Government of Guinea and the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources.
