Monday, April 24, 2006

by Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com

PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Multinationals BHP-Billiton and Alcoa/Suralco began mining bauxite at a new production site in Suriname last week.

The new mining operations were formally launched by President Ronald Venetiaan with the inauguration of a bridge over the Suriname River.

Nearby roads and the cross-river connection leading to the so-called successor mines, Kaaimangrasie and Klaverblad will be handed over to the government once the mining operations stop.

Both companies made a joint investment of US$300 million to develop the successor mines. State of the art mining equipment is used at both mines and the investors apply high environmental standards at these operations.

In his address, the Head of State expressed hopes for the bauxite industry to continue contributing to the Surinamese economy and good cooperation between the government and multinationals should also continue.

Minister of Natural Resources, Gregory Rusland, looks forward to a greater role for Surinamese bauxite in the international market. Currently, Suriname’s share of worldwide bauxite production accounts for 2.5 to 3 percent of the world’s annual production.

“We certainly would like to see Suriname becoming a more substantial player in the future,” said the cabinet minister.

Jerome Maxwell, Alcoa’s president for the Caribbean, assured that the multinationals will continue operations in Suriname. “We have chosen to invest here and we will continue to invest here,” said the Alcoa official.

According to Frank Plantenberg, his colleague at BHP-Billiton, the new mines will enable both companies to continue production towards exploitation of the enormous bauxite deposits in the Bakhuys Mountains in the western part of the country.

Production will last about 4 years in the new Kaaimangrasie and Klaverbad mines, as the deposit is estimated to contain 15 million tons of bauxite.

Explorations continue in the Bakhuys Mountains and the companies will soon begin negotiating with the government for a mining contract. The investors and government signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding this issue in 2003.

The export of alumina makes up for more than 60 percent of the exports of Suriname and contributes 10 to 15 percent of the government’s income. In 2005, the bauxite industry contributed US$46.7 million to the state coffers.

In 2005, bauxite production in Suriname totaled 4,780 million tons while the refinery produced 1,940 millions tons of alumina.

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