#UAE Miner Axis Seeks $28.9 Billion in Guinea Bauxite Dispute - Bloomberg

UAE Miner Axis Seeks $28.9 Billion in Guinea Bauxite Dispute - Bloomberg

A United Arab Emirates-based company that says it is Guinea’s second-largest bauxite producer filed a $28.9 billion claim against the West African nation for revoking its mining rights.

Axis International Ltd. has submitted its arbitration claim to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, an arm of the World Bank. Axis said Guinea has ignored several attempts to settle the dispute.

Guinea is the world’s top exporter of bauxite, a raw material that’s refined into alumina, the main feedstock for making aluminum. The Axis concession was among more than 50 terminated in May by President Mamadi Doumbouya’s military government for non-compliance with the country’s mining code.

That included the seizure of the bauxite concession held by a unit of Dubai’s Emirates Global Aluminium for failing to build a refinery in the West African country.

Axis disputed the government’s rationale for revoking its concession. The firm said its Axis Minerals Resources unit has been operating a bauxite mine at Boffa, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of the capital Conakry since 2020.

“The purported justification for terminating the mining permit – that the mine was not operating, that it was underutilized – is not based on reality,” Gunjan Sharma, a lawyer representing Axis, said in a statement.

Mining and Geology Minister Bouna Sylla and government spokesperson Ousmane Gaoual Diallo didn’t respond to phone calls and messages seeking comment.

Doumbouya, the leader of Guinea’s military junta, is poised to extend his rule after facing a fragmented opposition in Sunday’s elections, the first since a 2021 coup. Doumbouya has highlighted the military government’s progress in developing the mining sector, including the Simandou project, which started exports earlier this year from one of the world’s largest iron-ore deposits.

The firm said bauxite exports from the project reached 18 million tons in 2024, with proven reserves of more than 800 million tons. The government has also seized its mining equipment and frozen its bank accounts, Axis said.

“As we will show the World Bank tribunal, Guinea is liable for the entire amount of damages caused by its knowingly unlawful acts,” Sharma said.