Riots hit major bauxite mining hub in Guinea

Riots have paralysed a major bauxite mining hub in Guinea, Africa’s top producer, as residents erected barricades and burned tyres to protest against high pollution levels and power cuts, government and company officials said.

The unrest broke out on Monday night in the city of Boke, home to mining companies Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB) and Companie Bauxite de Guinee (CBG) which each export around 15 million tonnes of the aluminium ore annually.

“It’s a problem with electricity that aggravated the situation. We are working on finding a solution to the problem,” said Saadou Nimaga, secretary general at Guinea’s Mines Ministry.

A police source said anti-riot police had been sent to rein in the protests on Tuesday. Mining activity has fuelled tensions in cities such as Boke, where much of the population remains poor and unemployed despite Guinea’s mineral riches.

The West African nation possesses about a third of the world’s bauxite reserves.

A senior company official, who asked not to be named, said the riots had caused a slowdown of activities at CBG, which is 49 percent owned by the Guinean state and the remainder by Alcoa , Rio Tinto Alcan and Dadco.

Representatives for SMB were not immediately available for comment. The company is owned by Chinese firms Winning Shipping Ltd and Shandong Weiqiao along with UMS International Ltd and Guinea.

“It’s nearly the whole city that has risen up against the pollution and power cuts,” said another mining company official who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

SOURCE: finance.yahoo.com