China's Bosai, Guyana consider a one billion dollar alumina plant

China's Bosai Minerals and Guyana have agreed to conduct a feasibility study on building an aluminum oxide plant expected to cost one billion dollars, officials said.

Bosai Minerals Managing Director Zhilyun Yuan said that if the study determines the plant can be built, his company would pay for 30 percent of the plant construction and borrow the remainder from a consortium of Chinese banks.

Bosai officials believe the plant could annually produce one million tonnes of aluminum oxide, also known as alumina and used to produce aluminum metal.

Within three years of building the plant, Guyana would receive an 11 percent stake, while the remainder would remain in the hands of Bosai Minerals, which took over one of Guyana's bauxite mining entities 18 months ago, said J.K. Fang, manager of Bosai's International Projects Department.

Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo cautioned that the international financial turmoil would adversely impact on the alumina plant's schedule.

"The global financial crisis is to going to have an impact on the time-line," Jagdeo said at signing ceremony with Bosai executives. "We hope it is going to have a minimal impact," he said.

Guyana had an alumina plant that closed down in 1982 -- at the height of the country's socialist experiment -- due to poor maintenance, a foreign exchange shortage and the migration of skilled labor.

The plant had been nationalized a few years before from the US-based Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA).

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.