Bauxite and mining in Guinea beyond Simandou

Guinea, home to the world’s largest bauxite reserves

According to the US Geological Survey (Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026), Guinea holds the largest bauxite reserves on the planet: 7.4 billion tonnes out of an estimated 29 billion worldwide, roughly a quarter. It is also the top producer, with an estimated 150 million tonnes in 2025 (142 million in 2024), ahead of Australia (97 million) and China (87 million). That is just over a third of the 440 million tonnes mined globally.

Yet the country processes very little of it: the USGS puts its alumina output at 360,000 tonnes in 2025, from the long-standing Friguia refinery. Most of the ore leaves raw, by ship, from the ports of the Boké region in the north-west.

The gap between the USGS’s 150 million tonnes and the 182.8 million tonnes exported is partly a matter of method: the USGS publishes an early-year estimate in dry tonnes, while Guinean export statistics count shipped volumes. Each figure is best quoted with its source.

Record exports, driven by China

In 2025 bauxite exports rose 25% to 182.8 million tonnes, shipped by 23 companies. China took nearly 74% of them, according to Chinese customs data cited by Financial Afrik. The pace held up in 2026: 114.8 million tonnes in the first half, up 15% year on year, based on Ministry of Mines data analysed by Reuters and reported by Alcircle.

Prices are less supportive. Alcircle puts Guinean bauxite at around $38–39 per dry tonne FOB in 2026, amid ample supply, while higher fuel costs are squeezing smaller miners: Dynamic Mining suspended operations and three other smaller operators halted or scaled back output.

Who mines Boké’s bauxite?

The landscape is dominated by Chinese groups, alongside long-established Western and Russian operators. In 2025 the leading exporters were Chalco (22.1 million tonnes), CBG (17.4 million), then SMB and the AGB2A/SDM joint venture at about 17 million tonnes each. In the second quarter of 2026, SMB shipped 16.95 million tonnes (down 16% year on year), Chalco 7.73 million (up 38%) and CBG 4.13 million (down 7.3%), according to the Ministry of Mines and Geology.

• SMB-Winning: a consortium formed in 2015 around Winning International Group, Shandong Weiqiao, Guinea’s UMS and Yantai port group. It runs the Dapilon-Santou railway (125 km, $1.2 billion, 52 million tonnes a year).
• CBG (Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée): founded in 1963, 49% owned by the state and 51% by Halco (Alcoa, Rio Tinto and Dadco). Mines at Sangarédi, port at Kamsar.
• Chalco: a Chinalco subsidiary active in Boffa, where it is building an alumina refinery.
• Rusal: operates the Dian-Dian deposit (COBAD) in the Boké region, the Kindia bauxite company and the Friguia refinery.
• Nimba Mining Company: a state company set up in 2025 that took over GAC’s mining title.

2025, the year of licence withdrawals

Under President Mamadi Doumbouya, the state has taken a tougher line with mining companies. In early May 2025, 51 mining titles were withdrawn for under-use, covering bauxite, gold, diamonds, graphite and iron among others. On 26 May, Mines Minister Bouna Sylla announced the cancellation of 129 exploration permits, mostly for gold, all of which had already expired according to Ecofin Agency.

The most significant case involves Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC), a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA). After its operations were suspended in autumn 2024 in a dispute over building an alumina refinery, its title was withdrawn in 2025 and transferred to Nimba Mining Company, created by presidential decree. According to Mining Technology, the concession covers 690 km² and about 400 million tonnes of resources; on 5 August 2025 EGA denounced a “de facto expropriation”. A settlement reached in May 2026 and closed in August provides for a lump-sum payment to GAC and lets EGA buy up to 4.9 million tonnes a year until 2044; a first 66,000-tonne cargo was delivered in late August, LME Insight reports.

The licence of Axis Minerals, which mined at Boffa, was also withdrawn in May 2025. The minister says the company did not invest enough; Axis says it produced about 18 million tonnes in 2024 and is seeking damages at ICSID. The amount varies by source: $28.9 billion according to Africa Briefing, $21 billion according to Avenir Guinée. Part of the area is now worked by AGB2A-GIC, which brings together SD Mining and Guinea Investment Corporation.

The bet on local refining

Conakry’s stated goal is to process more at home. On 13 June 2026 work began on a Chalco refinery at Lisso-Demougala, about 40 km from Boffa: an estimated $1 billion investment for 1.2 million tonnes of alumina a year. It is the third project after those of SPIC and the Winning consortium, both at Dobali. According to the Ministry of Mines, the three Boké-region refineries should come on stream between 2028 and 2029 and create more than 12,000 direct jobs.

Gold and diamonds, briefly

Guinea exported about 72.7 tonnes of gold in 2025: 49.6 tonnes from artisanal mining, 19.94 tonnes from industrial mines and 3.23 tonnes from semi-industrial operations, according to the ministry bulletin reported by Ecofinance Guinée. The main industrial mine, Siguiri, run by AngloGold Ashanti, produced 289,000 ounces in 2025 (up 6%) for $990 million in revenue, Ecofin Agency reports. Diamonds remain marginal: 113,379 carats in 2024, worth about $5 million, according to the Kimberley Process.

Working on the sector from Conakry

The mines are in Boké, Boffa or Siguiri, but decisions are made in Conakry: the Ministry of Mines, company head offices, banks and advisory firms cluster in Kaloum, while Camayenne and Kipé host many professionals on assignment. At Diatigui we offer furnished apartments in Conakry for stays from a few nights to several months, a practical base between trips to the sites.