Guinea has revoked the bauxite concession awarded to a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and transferred it to a newly created state-backed firm, citing violations of its mining code, according to a decree announced late Monday.
The move further escalates a standoff over refinery construction and highlights a push by countries in West Africa to reclaim control over strategic mineral assets.
Guinea is the world's second-largest producer after Australia of bauxite, the raw material for aluminium.
EGA began operating in Guinea in 2019 and exported around 14 million metric tons of bauxite in 2022.
EGA's operation in Guinea, through its Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) subsidiary, includes a 690-square kilometre mining concession that contains around 400 million tonnes of bauxite mineral resources.
The decree announced late Monday said the concession would be transferred to local state-backed firm Nimba Mining SA.
Neither EGA nor GAC responded immediately to a request for comment.
EGA has been in a dispute with the government of Guinea since October last year when its bauxite exports and mining operations were suspended by the authorities.
It said in March that the suspension of its activities in Guinea resulted in a decline of exports from 14.1 million wet metric tonnes of bauxite in 2023 to 10.8 million wet metric tonnes in 2024.
