Alcoa forms bauxite joint venture

Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals (AWAC) is forming a joint venture with Vietnam National Coal Mineral Industries Group to produce 600,000 tons per year of alumina. AWAC, a joint venture between Alcoa Inc. and Australian company Alumina Ltd., will also carry out a feasibility study for a separate bauxite and alumina refinery project in Vietnam. The alumina refinery, which is to be built in Dak Nong province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, will have access to extensive reserves of high-quality bauxite, according to Pittsburgh-based Alcoa Inc. If the deal is successful, it will result in Vietnam National Coal-Minerals Industries Group (Vinacomin) owning a 51% share, AWAC 40% and other investors 9%. The agreement is a significant breakthrough in a long-drawn out effort by foreign mining companies to gain access to Vietnam’s rich bauxite deposits, which some estimate to be between 2-8 billion tons or about 5% of world reserves. “Alcoa is delighted to be invited to participate in the development of the Vietnamese economy and particularly to be engaged in prospective development within the Central Highlands,” Bernt Reitan, Alcoa executive vice president and group president, global primary products, said in a statement. (June 24/25/26, 2008)