Bauxite production to be ramped up by 2024 year end – Bharrat

…says industry is poised for major turnaround amid rebuild

Guyana’s bauxite industry, which employs hundreds of workers, is poised for a major turnaround after a drop in production last year. Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat is expecting production in the sector to ramp up significantly by 2024-year end.
Bharrat made these comments during the recent launch of the mineral mapping project, being conducted by United States (US) based company, Global Venture Consulting. At the time, the minister also zeroed in on the bauxite industry and its importance to the nation.
“I know sometimes when we speak of mining, even I do it. Sometimes when we speak of mining, our focus is on gold all the time. And many Guyanese think so. When I speak of mining, everybody focus is on gold. And indeed, gold plays a big part in our mining,” he said.

“But gold is not the only mineral or commodity, that we’re responsible for or producing. 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 said.
Currently, Bosai Minerals Group Guyana Inc. (BMGG) is the dominant presence in the local bauxite mining sector. Operating out of Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice), the company is according to Bharrat, poised for a dramatic increase in production.
“And we have almost both companies, but the major company in Linden, 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, that was formally Burmine. And it created employment in the Region 10 area, what was formerly Linmine,” he explained.
Bharrat noted that the benefits from the bauxite sector transcend production statistics and goes to the heart of the economic wellbeing 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, is very critical for Region 10 and the economic activities in Region 10. And I’m happy that bauxite is actually taking a turn around and we will see an increase in production in 2024, going in 2025,” the minister 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 drops 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 A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government. In June of this year, the minister had emphasised that the sector is being rebuilt by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration.
“The bauxite industry is being rebuilt and we are seeing increased production in the bauxite industry and the bauxite industry is even poised to expand even more through the expansion work and investment that is happening at BOSAI in Linden. Only recently we would have licensed a remnant deposit; a new small deposit to the BOSAI Company to boost their production,” he had said.
It was announced earlier this year that Bosai would be injecting some US$115 million into a ‘mass project’ that will advance its local operations. This announcement was made by the Managing Director of the Bosai Group, Yuan Zhilun, at the commissioning ceremony of a new rotary kiln #15 at the company’s mining site in Linden.
And meanwhile, the government is continuing its efforts to restart Bauxite activities in the Berbice River, years after Russian-owned bauxite company Rusal shut down its operations in Guyana. RUSAL’s Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) subsidiary left Guyana in February 2020 under the APNU/AFC Government terminating 326 employees. Some 600 jobs in the bauxite industry between 2015 and 2020.