(CMC) The Guyana government says it expects to receive a report soon on the review of the bauxite industry that was commissioned last year marking the centennial of the sector here.
“We are currently reviewing the industry to see where our reserves are and the future of the industry,” said Natural Resources Raphael Trotman.
He said the review also “includes a decision as to whether or not we should have another alumina plant in the country.”
He is also hoping that the review being undertaken by Lance Carberry and Sylvester Carmichael, two veterans within the industry, will be completed before the end of May.
Trotman said the David Granger government is already considering fuelling the alumina plant with the natural gas that it has found, along with oil.
Guyana celebrated 100 years of bauxite mining in October 2016. There are two bauxite producing companies, Bosai and Rusal.
The decreased world demand for the mineral prompted the government to carry out the review of the industry. The review is also a manifesto promise of the administration. It will help to determine the future plans for the industry.
In the 1980s Guyana lost its “leading” status among world bauxite producers. The alumina factory had to be closed, and the export of calcined ore declined by one half; that is, from around 600,000 tonnes to about half that amount.
