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BHP Billiton seals stake in Guinea<br />
alumina refinery<br />
BHP Billiton acquired a 33.3% interest in<br />
Global <strong>Alu</strong>mina’s Sangaredi refinery project<br />
in Guinea, West Africa, for a consi<strong>de</strong>ration<br />
of US$ 140 million. The project comprises<br />
the <strong>de</strong>sign, construction and operation of a<br />
3 million tpy alumina refinery, 9 million tpy<br />
bauxite mine and associated infrastructure.<br />
As part of the agreement, BHP Billiton<br />
will appoint the CEO and CFO of the joint<br />
venture company (JVC) and will enter into<br />
a services agreement with the JVC for the<br />
<strong>de</strong>velopment, construction and operation<br />
of the project. Global <strong>Alu</strong>mina will now<br />
hold a 33.3% equity interest in the Sangaredi<br />
refinery project, Dubai <strong>Alu</strong>minium<br />
Company Ltd a 25% interest and Gulf in-<br />
Ashapura to increase<br />
bauxite exports to China<br />
India’s Ashapura Minechem will increase<br />
exports of metallurgical gra<strong>de</strong><br />
bauxite to China to 5 million tonnes<br />
in the next year ending March 2008.<br />
Strong <strong>de</strong>mand enabled the company<br />
to lift exports of bauxite to China to<br />
3.6 million tonnes in the year ending<br />
March 2007 from around 1.3 million<br />
Defunct Alabama secondary<br />
smelter eyes US$ 8 million bond<br />
A <strong>de</strong>funct secondary aluminium smelter<br />
in Scottsboro, Alabama, may get a<br />
new lease on life. A county agent in Alabama<br />
plans to issue up to US$ 8 million<br />
in industrial <strong>de</strong>velopment bonds to<br />
finance the reopening of the plant that<br />
once operated as Ares Corp. Ares provi<strong>de</strong>d<br />
sows for three years for a nearby<br />
tube mill called Scottsboro <strong>Alu</strong>minum<br />
LLC, but that company’s closure put<br />
Ares out of business. The new project<br />
involves investors affiliated with Commercial<br />
Alloys Corp, Twinsburg, Ohio,<br />
using inherited equipment from the<br />
ALUMINIUM · 6/2007<br />
vestment company Mubadala Development<br />
Company 8.3%.<br />
tonnes three years ago. Bauxite price<br />
shave risen in the meantime from<br />
US$ 15 per tonne three years ago to<br />
US$ 25 per tonne this year. China has<br />
emerged as a major buyer of bauxite<br />
in the past few years due to a number<br />
of large alumina refineries that have<br />
been built and because Chinese bauxite<br />
is of poor quality for alumina production.<br />
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Secondary aluminium smelting<br />
and recycling activities<br />
shuttered plant that inclu<strong>de</strong>s a reverberatory<br />
furnace capable of holding 90<br />
tonnes of metal.<br />
Allied Metal Co. of Chicago,<br />
bought the <strong>de</strong>funct facility’s assets in<br />
late 2002, but the company’s plans to<br />
reopen it were later shelved. Allied<br />
Metal no longer owns the facility.<br />
The plant will employ 70 workers.<br />
The bond issue would be sponsored<br />
by the Jackson County Economic<br />
Development Authority. The goal is<br />
to operate a secondary aluminium<br />
processing and tolling facility that<br />
would shred and melt scrap. The bond<br />
issue documentation shows the operating<br />
entity will be <strong>Alu</strong>minum One of<br />
COMPANY NEWS<br />
Alabama Inc, with the company owning<br />
the site based in Ohio. <strong>Alu</strong>minum<br />
One operates a remelt and toll facility<br />
in Minerva, Ohio.<br />
Avon Metals receives<br />
Queen’s Award<br />
UK secondary aluminium group Avon<br />
Metals has received a Queen’s Award<br />
for Enterprise in the international<br />
tra<strong>de</strong> category. The company recycles<br />
metals at its facility in Gloucester<br />
and was established in 2001. Over<br />
the past three years the company’s<br />
export earnings have doubled. Over<br />
£ 500,000 have been invested in the<br />
company’s plant to enhance productivity<br />
and protect the environment.<br />
Avon’s markets are predominantly<br />
within the European Union, but also<br />
the Middle and Far East, the Americas<br />
and Australia.<br />
Alcan completes<br />
divestment of Affimet<br />
Alcan has completed the divestment of<br />
its troubled French primary and secondary<br />
casting alloy plant Affimet to<br />
RecovCo, as the new owners prepare<br />
to switch on a new furnace. The plant<br />
will now be called RecovCo Affimet.<br />
The first metal from the new rotary<br />
tilting furnace, installed by RecovCo,<br />
has been poured at the beginning of<br />
May, and the new owners will begin<br />
a slow ramp-up over three months<br />
to bring the plant capacity to 50,000<br />
to 55,000 tpy. Primary production<br />
will account for 17,000 to 19,000 tpy,<br />
while secondary smelting will make<br />
up around 30,000 tpy. RecovCo has<br />
managed to retain existing customers<br />
and suppliers after a good handover<br />
from Alcan. The new rotary tilting furnace<br />
replaces the fixed axis furnaces.<br />
RecovCo plans to reduce costs and<br />
increase efficiency through new technology.<br />
The workforce has been cut to<br />
about 80 from 212 before the takeover.<br />
Alcan incurred a pre-tax, non-recurring<br />
charge of around US$ 40 million,<br />
principally cash, covering environmental<br />
provisions, dismantling costs<br />
and severance in the second quarter<br />
of 2006 related to the divestment. �<br />
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