First rail wagons arrive at GAC’s Kamsar site

Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) SA, a major contributor in the mining sector in Guinea, today announced the safe arrival and unloading of the first rail wagons that will be used to transport bauxite from GAC’s mining site to the coast at Kamsar.

The rail wagons, which were manufactured in China, each have the capacity to carry 85 tonnes of bauxite. GAC will use almost 500 of these rail wagons in total in its operations, where they will deliver bauxite ore to the new port facility at Kamsar. For fast and safe unloading at the port, specialised equipment is required, and GAC’s new rail car dumper is currently being assembled after arriving in Guinea in June.

The rail car dumper will be capable of rotating two wagons at a time, tipping out bauxite which will be transported by conveyor to barges. The advanced technology used will enable GAC to unload two rail wagons every 90 seconds.

Each GAC train will consist of 120 wagons and will carry over 10,000 tonnes of bauxite.

Steeve Tremblay, Project Director at GAC, said: “With the arrival of the first of our wagons, we are a step closer to the first bauxite export. I congratulate the team on this milestone and look forward to the successful completion of the work that remains to be done.”

GAC’s project is one of the largest greenfield investments in Guinea in the past 40 years, with the first bauxite exports expected during the second half of 2019.

The total budgeted project cost of the GAC project is some $1.4 billion.