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ECONOMICS
Bauxite and alumina activities in 2009, Part II
R. P. Pawlek, Sierre
Continued from ALUMINIUM 3/2010
ASIA
China: In January 2009, Datang International
Power Generation Co.
completed the construction of a plant
which can produce 3,000 tpy of alumina
from coal ash. Ash typically contains
metals and alumina. The challenge
has been to develop the technology
to the point where it is cost-effective.
The plant is expected to receive
the fly ash from power plants in Inner
Mongolia, where the alumina content
in the fly ash can near 50%, much
higher than from other coal sources.
At the end of March, Yunnan
Aluminium Co. Ltd plans raised up
to 1.2bn yuan (USD175.6m) to fund
an alumina project through a private
placement of domestically listed Ashares.
Yunnan Aluminium issued up
to 200m shares to no more than ten selected
investors, with its parent, Yunnan
Metallurgical Group, claiming at
least 50%. The shares were priced
at 6.31 yuan, or 90% of the average
price over the past 20 trading days.
The alumina project, in Wenshan in
southwestern China’s Yunnan province,
will have a capacity of 800,000
tpy of alumina. It will require total investment
of 4.5bn yuan and take three
years to complete.
In August, China’s Bosai Group announced
the doubling of its alumina
and aluminium capacities in the first
half of 2010, adding production to
the world’s top aluminium producing
nation. For this Bosai was in talks
with Minermet and Krupadeep Traders,
to import Indian bauxite. The
firm is building a facility in Sichuan
province to boost its alumina capacity
from 200,000 tpy to 500,000 tpy in
April 2010. To meet Bosai’s expanding
alumina production, the firm was
likely to import about 500,000 tpy of
bauxite. That amount would cover
half of the company’s annual demand
of bauxite for 2010.
India: In January 2009, Vedanta
Resources Plc. was ready to start
mining bauxite in eastern India and
in February was complying with court
orders so it could begin the project,
which is opposed by tribal leaders.
Indeed, Vedanta intends mining early
next financial year (from April) and
does not anticipate any major trouble.
In August 2008, India’s Supreme
Court allowed Vedanta to mine bauxite
in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa
state, a scheme that aroused protests
from tribal people who view the area
as sacred. Vedanta wants to dig openpit
mines to feed an alumina refinery
it has built in the area as part of an
USD800m project.
The company is due to hand over
a report saying it has met court-imposed
guidelines, including paying
the forest department fees for using
land, reforestation projects and development
work for the tribes’ people.
Vedanta is coordinating with the
government and the tribal leaders on
building new roads and providing
employment to local people. Vedanta
deposited already USD28m with the
government as payments to ensure it
preserves wildlife, does reforestation
projects and launches development
work for residents.
The Orissa Mining Corp., Vedanta’s
joint-venture partner, will supply
150m tpy of bauxite to Vedanta’s plant
from various locations, including Niyamgiri,
which has a 79m-tonne deposit.
At least 50% of the alumina refinery
is running with bauxite from Gujarat
and other states, but only by also
mining the Niyamgiri hill bauxite can
it reach full production.
In July, Vedanta announced plans
to invest USD1.23bn in its Lanjigarh
alumina plant to expand its capacity
from 1.4m tpy to 6m tpy by 2011. For
this Vedanta will build 3m tpy of new
capacity and add a further 600,000
tpy by debottlenecking. The start of
the mining to feed the alumina refinery
in India’s Orissa state has been
delayed for at least four years by protests
from indigenous people, who
consider the area that will be mined as
sacred ground. In November, Vedanta
announced it is looking to buy 4m
tonnes of bauxite to feed its 1.4m tpy
alumina refinery in Lanjigarh, Orissa
state, India.
In September, Nalco announced
commissioning another 1.4m tpy
alumina refinery in Andhra Pradesh
state in 2013/14. The Indian government
already gave prior approval
to Nalco’s applications to mine the
bauxite blocks at Gudem and Katamraju
Konda in Andhra Pradesh, which
have estimated bauxite reserves of
85m tonnes. The refinery project will
cost about Rs60bn (USD1.3bn) and
the detailed project report and feasibility
report have been completed.
Nalco plans to send alumina from its
Andhra Pradesh refinery to smelters
outside India that will be built by the
time the refinery is commissioned.
In May, state-owned smelter Dubal
announced talks with the Indian government
on a bauxite alumina project
in Orissa. The bauxite mine, alumina
refinery and smelter, a joint venture
with Indian engineering conglomerate
Larsen and Toubro, was originally
scheduled to start in 2009, but Dubal
expected delays due to bureaucratic
issues in India. The talks will cover
plans for the plant, but no further details
over the agenda were available.
Phase one of the facility will see the
construction of a 1.4m tpy alumina refinery,
while phase two, involving an
aluminium smelter, would add another
1.4m tpy of alumina. No deadlines
had been set for either phase.
At the end of June, it was reported
that the Utkal Alumina project to be
realised in Raygada, Orissa, was under
way. The project consists of a 1.5m tpy
refinery, with a 90 MW power plant
and a 2m tpy bauxite mining facility.
The construction of the refinery
is currently in full swing. All the land
required for the project has been acquired.
Around 70% of the project
cost has already been committed.
Indonesia: In January PT Aneka
Tambang (Antam) reported that
progress had been slow on its two
12 ALUMINIUM · 4/2010