Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) has announced the arrival of two SD40-2 shunting-locomotives that will be used on its under-construction bauxite mining project in the West African country of Guinea.

 

The largest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas, EGA’s subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) is building a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in Guinea in the largest greenfield investment in the country in the past 40 years.

 

The shunting-locomotives will be used to move rail wagons around GAC’s loading area at its mine location and at its unloading platform at Kamsar port on the Guinean coast, said a statement from the company.

 

The locomotives were manufactured in the US, with each power-rated to 3,000 horsepower and can shunt and manœuvre up to 120 fully-laden wagons (weighing more than 10,200 tonnes).

 

First bauxite exports from Guinea Alumina Corporation’s project are expected to start during the second half of 2019, it stated. 

 

GAC is expected to produce some 12 million tonnes of bauxite per year once fully operational, said its top official.

 

The total budgeted project cost of the GAC project is around $1.4 billion, remarked the CEO Paulo Castellari. 

 

He said the arrival of these shunting-locomotives was another milestone in the development of the project, which will boost the mining sector and the economy of the area and of Guinea as a whole.

 

"Our infrastructure for the mining of bauxite and delivery to ships for export is rapidly taking shape. We are focused on completing our work safely and efficiently," he stated.

 

GAC said it will use existing railway lines and hauling-locomotives for most of the 90-km journey from the mine to the port.

 

The company is building rail spurs at both ends of the line to connect the existing rail network to its facilities, it added.-TradeArabia News Service