Record bauxite output from CBG despite protests and military coup

The world’s biggest bauxite exporter, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee...

The world’s biggest bauxite exporter, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG), produced a record of more than 13.7 million tonnes in 2008, up from 12.5 million tonnes in 2007, a senior CBG official said on Friday.The 2008 output exceeded a 13.5 million tonne target set by the company, and was achieved despite protests that blocked a bauxite-carrying railway line in late October and a military coup in December following the death of President Lansana Conte."We achieved a production of more than 13.7 million tonnes of bauxite this year. Exporting the mineral ore required 241 shiploads, or 19 more than the previous year. That’s a record," the company official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters."We were able to attain this figure because events in Guinea did not affect CBG’s production. The mine processing plant continued to operate," he added.Alcoa (AA.N) and Rio Tinto Alcan (RIO.L) control the Halco joint venture that owns 51 percent of CBG, and the Guinean government holds the remainder.Guinea, the world’s leading exporter of the bauxite ore from which aluminium is made, produced around 17 million tonnes of bauxite in 2007, most of this coming from CBG. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)