President Donald Ramotar and Chief Executive Officer of RUSAL, Vladislav Soloviev cutting the symbolic ribbon to commission the Kurubuka mining complex in the presence of Ministers, Juan Edghill, Robeson Benn and Robert Persaud and other officials.

The comments were made as the Head of State and other senior members of his Cabinet were at the commissioning ceremony for the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc., Kurubuka Mining and Production Complex in Region Ten today.  The Kurubuka mine is located immediately adjoining to the Berbice River.

Among those who were present for the opening ceremony were, Works Minister Robeson Benn, Minister within the Ministry of Finance Juan Edghill, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, and others.

President Donald Ramotar and Chief Executive Officer of RUSAL, Vladislav Soloviev and Ministers, Juan Edghill, Robeson Benn, Robert Persaud and other officials during a tour of the facility. 

The President said the event marks another milestone in the project of saving Guyana’s bauxite industry.

“When we came to government, many of you will recall that the industry was in a very bad state. At the time there were a lot of predictions from pundits and others that the industry was uneconomical, it should have been closed.”

Amidst these predictions and calls from various sections of society, President Ramotar said his administration insisted that it will not be closed.

It was however, after a long and hard struggle, President Ramotar said, that Minister Robeson Benn and National Industrial and Commercial and Investment Limited’s (NICIL’s) Winston Brassington and others did all they could to save the industry and restore it to its glory.

“Indeed it was these two gentlemen who journeyed to Russia to open discussion and to stimulate the interest of RUSAL in Guyana, and today we can say that the first part of the mission has been accomplished.”

President Ramotar also expressed his pleasure of having RUSAL in Guyana as this also represents the strength and determination of the Russians.

The President also spoke of Guyana being a small country, but still being able to make contribution to ensuring that history does not repeat itself.  “…And  one of the ways in which we see we can do this is by improving the economy, making life more prosperous and developing the different aspects of our life, we want to see that the wealth that is created in the country is shared by all the people of our country.”

The Head of State added that this investment would certainly benefit riverain communities of Region Ten including Hururu, Kwakwani and others as the foundation is being set for a better life for all Guyanese. He also pointed out the importance of being able to sustain the quality of life for years to come.

President Donald Ramotar listens keenly as Chief Executive Officer of RUSAL, Vladislav Soloviev explains the Kurubuka bauxite plant’s operations

The possibility of adding value to bauxite was a topic of discussion between government officials and RUSAL and the President noted that it is his hope that this can be further explored.

“I hope it will continue, that we can add value to the bauxite right here in Guyana that we can begin to think about moving once again to the production of aluminum. It has benefits for all of us, all of us will benefit - the investors and our country.”

This move, the President said, will also allow the government to offer more goods and services to its people.

RUSAL was lauded by the Head of State for this bold step, having shown such confidence in Guyana’s economy. He stated that he will be looking forward to working closely with Russia in other areas.

He noted that the country has great potential and other areas which can be further explored including, technology, hydro and micro hydro.

Meanwhile Minister Robert Persaud also took the time to hail the company for the initiative as it had been several years in the making. This investment, Minister Persaud said truly reflects confidence on the part of the company as they have expended $4.6 B on it. He too noted that the surrounding communities stand to benefit as hundreds of Guyanese are currently employed by the company.

A section of the Kurubuka bauxite plant

“We have always ensured that when foreign investors come that they are given the necessary support, that there is an enabling environment, but we also ensure that they adhere to our national laws, and at the same time ensure that they give back to the community to ensure that the contribution to the country especially in the development in the utilisation of our natural resource.”

BCGI, a subsidiary of RUSAL (successor to AMC/Bermine), was founded in December 2004 under an agreement between RUSAL and the Government of Guyana, and started its operational activities in 2005. RUSAL owns a 90% stake in the company while the remaining 10% belongs to the Government of Guyana.

In 2013, BCGI commenced a project to develop a new deposit Kurubuka-22, located in Aroaima which encompasses the construction of the mine, service road and comprehensive production complex to crush, dry and on-load commercial bauxite.

Minister Persaud said that from 2005 to 2014, the company directly invested US$96M (G$19.2B) into the Guyanese economy, of which, it spent locally US$65M (G$13B) in buying local materials and procuring services available.

Meanwhile the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Vladislav Soloviev thanked the Guyana Government for creating a favourable investment climate, and all the necessary support for such an investment.

“Our business cooperation with Guyana is developing in the context of strengthening connections between Russia and Latin America.”

In this regard, he said Guyana has rich mineral resources, while Russia possesses the knowledge, experience and technology required for mining; hence working together to implement projects in this area is a vital point of growth for mutual economic cooperation.

Kurubuka Bauxite plant in operation 

Minister Persaud said that total bauxite production for 2014 amounted to 1,601,747 MT of which BCGI produced 79%. With the expansion of its operations by the commissioning of the Kurubuka 22 Mines, the company expects to increase their annual production to a capacity of 2,300,000 tonnes per year in 2015, which equates to a 30% increase.

Today, despite facing challenges in the commodities market, bauxite investors remain committed to the development of the local bauxite industry, Minister Persaud stated.  Government, he said, can take some comfort that 10 years ago, facing challenging fiscal times, and conditions to cease subsidising the industry; it made the appropriate changes that today have seen the survival of the industry for the development of the local communities.