UPDATE: Rio, BHP: Closely Watching Situation In Guinea
September 30 2009 - 1:05AM
Dow Jones News
Global miners Rio Tinto Plc (RTP) and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP)
said Wednesday they were closely watching the deteriorating
political situation in Guinea but hadn't yet decided to move
workers out of the country for safety reasons.
Rio employs fewer than 100 expatriate staff and "a few hundred"
Guinean nationals in the West African state, where the company is
conducting work on the Simandou iron ore project, one of the
world's largest undeveloped iron ore deposits.
Military junta troops on Tuesday shot and killed at least 157
people and wounded more than 1,000 while breaking up a protest
rally at a stadium in Conakry. There were also reports of civilian
deaths outside of the capital.
"The safety of our workforce is our immediate focus. We have
arrangements in place. There hasn't been a decision to fly people
out," Rio iron ore spokesman Gervase Greene told Dow Jones
Newswires.
A spokeswoman for BHP Billiton said all of its staff in Conakry
and staff at joint venture sites "have been accounted for and are
safe."
BHP is considering developing a US$4.8 billion alumina refinery
in the country, which holds about one-third of the world's known
bauxite reserves, in partnership with New York-based Global Alumina
Corp. (GLA.U.T)
Protesters gathered in the stadium to oppose any bid by the
junta leader to run for president in an election due in
January.
Captain Moussa Dadis Camara took power in December last year
after leading a bloodless coup within hours of the death of
Guinea's strongman leader Lansana Conte, who had ruled the west
African country since 1984.
The United Nations, African Union and European Union have all
expressed alarm over the violence.
Guinea's recent calamitous political history highlights the
risks of committing to multi-billion mining projects in unstable
jurisdictions.
Also in December, but prior to the ousting of the government,
Rio's plans for the project were thrown into disarray when the
government stripped it of the northern half of the mining
concession, handing it to BSG Resources Guinea, a subsidiary of
Israeli businessman Benny Steinmetz's BSG Resources.
"We're waiting for greater clarity on the status of our mining
concession. There hasn't been any change for several months but
we're confident of the legality of our concession," said
Greene.
Other miners active in Guinea include Alcoa Inc. (AA) and United
Company Rusal. Both operate bauxite and alumina operations in the
country.
Earlier this month, Rusal received a court order canceling the
2006 purchase of the Friguia operation. Rusal argues it has bought
Friguia in full compliance with Guinean legislation, and has
appealed against the ruling.
In 2007, both Rio and BHP evacuated workers after then president
Conte declared martial law to quash a violent uprising.
-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires;
61-2-8272-4689 elisabeth.behrmann@dowjones.com