China's Chalco delays Boffa bauxite mine launch to 2020

10th October 2019 By: Reuters

TIANJIN – Aluminum Corp of China, also known as Chalco, has delayed the launch of its Boffa bauxite project in Guinea until at least the first quarter of 2020, a company official said on Thursday.

Construction on the project, expected to produce 12-million tonnes of the aluminium ore a year, would be completed in the first quarter of 2020 before production begins, Wang Dongbo, director general of mineral resources with Chalco, said at the China Mining conference in Tianjin.

Production was originally due to start by the end of this year, but Wang said issues with the climate in Guinea had caused a delay, without elaborating.

Bauxite is a rock refined to make alumina, which is then used to make aluminium metal.