BHP Billiton's (BHP) alumina refinery project in the west African country of Guinea will be developed despite political risks in the country, the company's President of Aluminium said Tuesday.

"There is no doubt in my mind that [the] Guinea [project] will be developed," Jon Dudas said. "There are a lot of flare ups, but some positives too."

The Guinea refinery is being developed as a joint venture between BHP Billiton, Global Alumina, Dubai Aluminium Company and Mubadala Development Company. The project includes the design, construction and operation of a 10 million metric tons a year bauxite mine, a 3.3 million tons a year alumina refinery and associated infrastructure. But operating conditions in Guinea have been fairly volatile since the end of 2008, when the dictator ruling the country died and a new government, led by self-appointed president and junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, took control.

Dudas told the Metal Bulletin aluminum conference in Duesseldorf, Germany that acompany either does business with a country like Guinea or Congo, or does business in those countries.

"We do always need governments to comply with the rule of law," he said. "Operating in countries with political risk is a risk that miners have to take on. They have to go where the resources are," he added.

Guinea holds a third of the world's bauxite reserves, the ore refined into a white powder called alumina which in turn makes the aluminum used in the world's cars and planes. The country also has vast deposits of iron ore, gold and diamonds.

-By Andrea Hotter, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9413; andrea.hotter@dowjones.com