VMC Plans Bauxite Mines

Plans to focus investment on mining bauxite were announced by the Ministry of

Industry (MoI). Bauxite deposits mainly lie in the Tay Nguyen (Central

Highlands) including the Tan Rai Mine in Lam Dong province, estimated to contain

385 million tonnes; Lam Dong’s Bao Loc District 378 million tonnes, and Dac Nong

District of Dak Lak Province 2.678 billion tonnes. Vietnam’s bauxite reserves

are estimated at eight billion tonnes-one of the largest in the world claims

VMC.

To start exploiting these resources, the Vietnam Minerals Corporation, VMC, has

devised a plan to build a bauxite-alumina-aluminium complex in Lam Dong

Province. The 1,576ha complex would comprise a 1.7 million tonnes per year

bauxite mine, (in the first phase) an alumina processing plant and a small

aluminium smelter in Bao Loc District’s Loc Than Commune. In the first phase,

the complex will process 300,000 tonnes of alumina from bauxite ore and smelt

73,000 tonnes of aluminium ingots a year.

VMC is planning to enter into a joint venture with France’s Aluminium Pechiney

Group to mine bauxite in Tan Rai area of Lam Dong Province and process alumina

for export. If given the go ahead by the government, the joint venture’s initial

capacity will be 1 million tonnes of alumina per year, rising to between 2 and 3

million tonnes per year in later stages. The US$800-900 million project is

expected to create 3,000 new jobs

 

Category: ResourceAsia