Bauxite being “right-sized” to ensure viability – Edghill

Following a drop in production last year, efforts are being made to ensure Guyana’s bauxite industry, which employs hundreds of workers, remains viable.
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill noted that the bauxite industry is being “right-sized” to ensure its continued viability.

“Bauxite is not going to disappear. It has been right-sized. Foreign investors are here plugging [funds into] it and we’re investing more so bauxite out of Linden [in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice) will not disappear,” Edghill stated.
The Public Works Minister made these remarks at the Guyana Port Inc.’s commissioning of a new US$4 million cutter suction dredger (CSD) vessel on Saturday at Support, East Bank Demerara. Speaking about the importance of dredging in Guyana’s waterways, the minister highlighted how the bauxite industry plays a major role in this activity.
Edghill disclosed that back when Russian-owned bauxite company, Rusal, was operating in the Upper Berbice River, there was a constant movement of vessels along that waterway that would transport the mineral out into the Atlantic Ocean to be offloaded for shipment.
However, since the closure of Rusal’s operation four years ago, the Berbice River has become prone to floods due to the high siltation.
“In just the years that Rusal is not operating, the entire Berbice River was flooded at every heavy rainfall… because the siltation in those rivers is so high. You’re seeing water but when you check the depth, it’s all silt because the lack of movement in the river has caused that silt to now become hard mud,” the minister pointed out.
RUSAL’s Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) subsidiary left Guyana in February 2020 under the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) regime, terminating 326 employees – some 600 jobs in the bauxite industry between 2015 and 2020 alone.
However, the current People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government has been continuing efforts to restart bauxite activities in the Berbice River as part of wider efforts to revitalize the industry.
In fact, the country’s Mid-Year Report for 2024 which was released by the Finance Minister in August, projects a 41.3 per cent growth in bauxite production by the end of this year.
Total bauxite production in the first half of 2024 was pegged at 196,650 tonnes while overall production for this year is estimated at more than 1,620,000 tonnes.
This is consistent with projections made by Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat, prior to the release of the report. The minister had stated that bauxite production is expected to ramp up significantly by 2024-year end.
“I’m happy to say Bauxite is turning around. And it is an important sector for us, especially in the creation of employment in Region 10,” Bharrat noted.
Currently, Bosai Minerals Group Guyana Inc. (BMGG) is the dominant presence in the local bauxite mining sector. Operating out of Linden, the company is, according to Bharrat, poised for a dramatic increase in production.
“The major company in Linden [is] investing significantly in their production line. And they’re poised to increase their production by the end of this year, creating another 200 employment opportunities for people in Region 10.”
“So, Bauxite has always been important for us because it created employment in the Berbice area, which was formally Burmine. And it created employment in the Region 10 area, what was formerly Linmine,” he explained.
Bharrat had noted that the benefits from the bauxite sector transcend production statistics and go to the heart of the economic well-being of the region. As such, the increase is likely to be recorded in late 2024-early 2025.
“So, the additional benefits and spin-offs that come with that sector, are very critical for Region 10 and the economic activities in Region 10. And I’m happy that bauxite is taking a turn around and we will see an increase in production in 2024, going in 2025,” the minister had said.
Bosai has been operating in Guyana since 2007.
Local bauxite production had been on an upward trajectory over the last three years, moving from 608,000 tonnes in 2020 to 705,000 tonnes in 2022 with an average of more than 600,000 tonnes in the last three years. In 2022, Guyanese earned some US$98.9 million in bauxite exports – an increase of 23.6 per cent over the previous year.
But in 2023, Guyana experienced a drop in bauxite production with 525,000 tonnes being declared. A significant contributor to the decline was drop in production from the large-scale producers, by 317,919 tonnes, but there was also an estimated drop in output from smaller operators, of 207,321 tonnes.
Bharrat had previously explained that the bauxite industry dwindled by over 40 per cent under the former APNU/AFC Government. (G-8)