On a working visit to Guinea, the CEO of the aluminum branch of the mining giant Rio Tinto, Gérôme Pécresse and the Guinean Minister of Mines and Geology, Bouna Sylla, visited the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) on October 3 and 4, 2024. The objective for Jérôme Pécresse is "to assess the level of involvement of CBG in order to revitalize the partnership between CBG and the Rio Tinto Alcan group," according to our colleagues at RTG.

During this visit, Minister Bouna Sylla and Jérôme Pécresse as well as their respective delegations met with CBG executives, visited the port facilities and the bauxite drying plant in Kamsar, the Sangaredi mine as well as some communities bordering the mining pioneer sites in Guinea.

It is important to highlight the fact that the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) was created through the agreement signed between the Guinean government and the Harvey Aluminium group on October 1, 1963. The Guinean state has 49% of the shares, while the Halco group - bringing together Alcoa, Rio Tinto Alcan and Dadco - holds 51%.

Long run by expatriates, CBG has experienced since January 2010, "a Guineanization" of the position of director general. To date, four (4) Guineans have succeeded each other at the head of CBG, namely, Kémoko Touré, Namory Condé, Souleymane Traoré, and the current acting director general, Karifa Condé. Could the visit of the CEO of Rio Tinto's aluminium branch be a step towards the construction of a long-awaited refinery by CBG?