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By Saliou Samb
Tue Jan 22, 2007 8:40 AM GMT160
CONAKRY, Jan 22 (Reuters) — Guinea's key bauxite and alumina industry faced growing disruption on Monday, the 13th day of a general strike aimed at ousting President Lansana Conte which has triggered violent protests in the No. 1 bauxite exporter.
One major rail export link remained halted and train drivers on another said youths were attacking them with stones in the suburbs of the capital Conakry on the way to the city's port.
Conte, who has already dismissed a key government ally in an apparent concession to unions, called on Sunday for citizens and the army to unite behind him after days of clashes in which at least eight people have been killed.
But the strike, launched by union leaders who say the reclusive diabetic president in his 70s is unfit to rule, continued on Monday.
Operators tried to get the main bauxite export train back up and running on Sunday, but were prevented from doing so by union members, an official said.
The train carrying bauxite from the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG) mine at Sangaredi for shipping from the port of Kamsar, northwest of Conakry, was halted late last week, when an official said ship loading operations had been slowed down.
"Since the stoppage all activity is blocked. Yesterday they (the drivers) tried to get the train going, but they met a firm refusal from unionists," said a CBG official at Sangaredi, who declined to be named.
An official at the mine told Reuters on Friday that stockpiles at Kamsar port might run out in a week without new bauxite deliveries by train. A spokesman for U.S. aluminium maker Alcoa, which runs the operation, said then it was too early to evaluate the effect on output.
CBG is run by Alcoa Inc. (AA.N: Quote, Profile , Research) through its Halco venture with Canada's Alcan (AL.TO: Quote, Profile , Research) and privately owned Dadco. Halco owns 51 percent of CBG. Guinea's government holds the rest.
CBG produces just over 14 million tonnes of wet bauxite a year from its mine in the northwest Boke region, and exports some 13 million tonnes of dried bauxite per year.
Guinea is the world's biggest exporter of bauxite for processing into alumina, from which aluminium is smelted.
Guinea's other main bauxite operation, Russian RUSAL's alumina plant at Fria, has continued production through the strike, although at a minimum level, a company employee said.
But at the weekend, youths had started stoning the train from Fria as it made its way through the outskirts of Conakry to deliver alumina to the city's port.
"Youths attacked our train drivers with rocks and missiles," said the employee, who declined to be identified.
"This is a very delicate situation because if the factory halts it will not be able to provide electricity or water to the town of Fria, and we will not be able to treat the chemicals coming out of the factory -- apart from the serious blow to the Guinean economy," the employee said.
Fria, which opened in 1960, produces around 700,000 tonnes of alumina a year, but RUSAL has proposed investing more than $150 million to increase its capacity to 1.3 million tonnes.
RUSAL officials in Conakry were unavailable for comment. RUSAL, controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, operates a smaller bauxite mining operation in Kindia. It was unclear whether operations there were affected by the strike.
Contact : info@webguine.site
webGuinée, Camp Boiro Memorial, webAfriqa © 1997-2013 Afriq Access & Tierno S. Bah. All rights reserved.