Nyinahin Bauxite deposits now 375 million tonnes over previous 250 million tonnes estimate

Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) and its partner Rocksure International have successfully carried out a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) on the Nyinahin’s bauxite reserves in the Ashanti region.

In the comprehensive MRE undertaken, a minimum of 375 million metric tonnes of bauxite have been discovered in the three hills assigned GIADEC and Rocksure International, over the previous estimate of 250 million metric tonnes.

GIADEC and Rocksure International on Tuesday formally presented a copy of the MRE report to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House and briefed him on the next stage of the project execution.

This is the first time that a comprehensive validation of bauxite deposits has been carried out on any of Ghana’s bauxite resources as the country in the past relied on historical estimates and projections.

President Akufo-Addo, who commended the two companies for the feat chalked in Ghana’s quest to explore and enhance its integrated aluminium industry, said this would form a credible basis to attract more investors and improve investor confidence in the bauxite industry.

“This is exceptionally good news today,” the President stated and assured that he would continue to provide GIADEC and Rocksure International the maximum support in the exploitation of the country’s bauxite resources.

“I think that if we can do that, it will justify completely our thinking, the whole GIADEC concept of using a state vehicle that will bring together the bauxite resources in the country under one roof and therefore strengthen the hand of the entity to enter into such transactions,” the President indicated.

The CEO of GIADEC, Mr Michaël Ansah, said, “We have developed all the project agreements relating to this, we are finalising all of that and we are going to be establishing a joint venture company that will be owned by the partners, as in, Rocksure and GIADEC that will be the entity to execute the development of the mine and the refinery solution,” he noted.

“We are looking at the processes that we have gone through, we have completed the signing, we have completed the mineral resource study [Estimates], and we are closing on the other aspects to do with qualifying this whole project for a mining lease.”

That mining lease, according to him, would then come before Cabinet for approval before it is presented to Parliament for ratification.

The partners plan to commence the development of the mine next year while they work earnestly to establish the refinery solution.

On his part, the CEO of Rocksure International, Mr Kwasi Osei Ofori expressed their appreciation to the government for the support given to them throughout the process.

Mr Ofori emphasised that the completion of the MRE report gives credence to the President’s long-held view that when given the chance, Ghanaian companies can compete with their peers in the global space.

In September 2021, GIADEC announced the selection of Rocksure International, a wholly Ghanaian-owned Company, as its strategic partner for Project 2, one of four projects that define the Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI), being executed by GIADEC.

Rocksure International was selected after a rigorous competitive three-round investor engagement process in 2019. The process began with about 40 companies expressing interest. Fourteen companies were shortlisted to progress to round two, of which five advanced to the final round.

Rocksure International, following the official announcement, commenced a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) in Nyinahin Block-B, specifically Hills 4, 5 &6 to validate and define the bauxite resources.

Ghana’s bauxite resources are estimated to be around 900MMT. Bauxite in Ghana is mainly concentrated in three areas, that is, Awaso in the Western-North Region with 60MMT, Kyebi in the Eastern Region with 160 MMT and Nyinahin in the Ashanti Region with the highest bauxite resources of 700MMT.