Bosai’s 2012 bauxite production target badly affected by Linden’s protests

Aug 31, 2012 News

It has been two weeks since Linden, a crucial bauxite mining town in Region 10, returned to some normality, after a month-long protest over a hike in electricity rates.
Major businesses, including the commercial banks, and the Bosai Minerals Guyana Inc. have since resumed full operations but it will take some time before the area  returns to ‘business as usual’, a senior official of that bauxite company has said.
The company was badly affected with the shutdown of the town with

File Photo: President Donald Ramotar during a visit to Bosai earlier this month.

workers staying away from their jobs. Three persons were killed and several injured in police clashes before a deal between government and the town’s leaders managed to see some level of peace and the re-opening of blocked roads. The roads are the main access to the hinterland areas, home to many Amerindian communities and logging and mining operations.
Bosai Minerals, which employs over 600 workers, was forced to halt its operation since July 18, and was unable to meet its targeted figure of 20,000 metric tonnes of bauxite ore (RASC) and  Specific Chemical Grade Bauxite (SCGB) 15,000 metric tonnes.
The production target for the company for 2012 is 250,000 metric tonnes (RASC) and 150,000.metric tonnes (SCGB).
However, according to a senior official of that Chinese-owned company, due to the fact that stripping and mining were affected, as a result of the halt in operations, reaching the projected target will be difficult.
Monthly, Bosai targets up to three RASC and two SCGB shipments per month, depending on demands.
The Bosai official admitted that the company has lost some of its clients who were forced to take from other suppliers right in China.
Bosai is currently working towards reassuring their lost customers that the company is still their number one supplier, the official disclosed.
Apart from losing buyers, the company also reportedly faced huge demurrage fees for shipping vessels that could not have been loaded on time and compensation for those that had to be cancelled.
Bosai, the official assures, is on stream with its planned investments for expansion of over US$100M.
The Chinese company, the main employer in Linden, had threatened to pullout during the strike, as residents directed their anger towards the entity which it blamed partially for triggering the decision to raise electricity rates.
Bosai produces the electricity for that Region 10 community.
President Donald Ramotar had visited the community earlier this month and was briefed by Bosai officials.