SYLLA & PARTNERS advised the Government of the Republic of Guinea in negotiating a mining concession agreement with CDM Henan China on the implementation of their integrated alumina project. For a completion cost estimated at 1 billion US dollars, the project comprises, among other things, mining operations, construction of an alumina refinery, a power plant, port and railway facilities. The project is promoted by Henan China.
Henan China represents a Chinese consortium from Henan province, a major industrial region of China known for its expertise in metallurgy and mineral processing sectors. The one billion dollar investment in this project illustrates the consortium’s long-term commitment to the development of the aluminium sector in Guinea.
The CDM Henan integrated alumina project aligns with the Government of Guinea’s strategy to promote local transformation of bauxite into alumina rather than exporting raw bauxite, thereby creating more added value and skilled jobs in Guinea. The construction of an alumina refinery constitutes the core of this project, enabling the transformation of extracted bauxite into alumina, an intermediate product in aluminium production.
The project also includes a significant energy component with the construction of a power plant intended to supply the alumina refinery operations, a highly energy-intensive industrial process. This vertical integration of energy production secures the electricity supply necessary for industrial operations and controls production costs.
Port and railway infrastructure complete this integrated project, enabling efficient transportation of bauxite from mining sites to the refinery, as well as export of produced alumina to international markets.
Our firm provided comprehensive legal assistance to the Government of Guinea throughout this negotiation process, mobilizing our expertise in mining law, infrastructure and tax law.
The services performed by SYLLA & PARTNERS included legal structuring of the integrated project covering mining, industrial, energy and infrastructure aspects, negotiation and drafting of the mining concession agreement defining the rights and obligations of the parties, advice on legal and tax regimes applicable to the different project components, as well as active participation in negotiation sessions with CDM Henan China representatives.
This type of assignment illustrates our ability to support the Government of Guinea in negotiating large-scale integrated industrial projects, ensuring the protection of the State’s interests while creating an attractive framework for significant investments in local transformation of mineral resources.
The SYLLA & PARTNERS team was led by Pierre Kodjo AVODE, partner, assisted by Mohamed Sidiki SYLLA and Madigbè KABA.
To discover other mining convention negotiation projects that our firm has completed in Guinea, visit our references page. For any questions regarding our services in negotiating integrated mineral processing projects, please do not hesitate to contact us.