Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced that its mining subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation has achieved the first certification in the Republic of Guinea to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s Performance Standard.

Aluminium Stewardship Initiative certification is the global aluminium industry’s internationally-recognised standard for environmental and social performance and governance.

Guinea is the world’s largest resource holder of bauxite, the ore from which aluminium is derived, and the second largest global producer.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said today: “EGA aims to be a global sustainability leader for the aluminium industry, helping ensure that aluminium reaches its full potential to contribute to human progress. Guinea is a developing country, which makes sustainability an essential priority in our local business. ASI Performance Standard certification provides an independent and public verification of both what we do well and where we can continuously improve, such as in our relationships with local communities. I am proud that an EGA company has achieved the first Aluminium Stewardship Initiative certification in Guinea, and hope that other bauxite mining companies in the country will follow our lead.”

The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative is a global, non-profit organisation that brings together aluminium producers, end-users such as BMW Group and Nespresso, civil society, and the public through consultation, to determine what constitutes good sustainability performance in the aluminium sector.

Fiona Solomon, Chief Executive Officer of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, said: The vision of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative is to maximise the contribution of aluminium to a sustainable society, by fostering responsible production, sourcing and stewardship. Guinea plays an important role in the global aluminium value chain, and is a country where the industry’s commitment to sustainability is tested. The GAC audit piloted the involvement of Guinean specialists in the audit team, after being trained in the ASI audit process as part of our Registered Specialists Program. This empowered local expertise as they took the lead on social engagement during the audit process, including a wide range of community, employer and contractor interviews. We congratulate Emirates Global Aluminium and its subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation for achieving this first ASI Performance Standard Certification in Guinea, and for their commitment to pursue responsible bauxite mining practices in this challenging setting.”

The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s Performance Standard has more than 100 environmental, social and governance requirements. Certification to Version 2 (2017) of the standard was granted following a rigorous independent audit of GAC’s polices, practice and performance. The audit considered a broad range of factors both directly and indirectly related to the company’s operations, including their impact on biodiversity, human rights, transparency, community engagement, emissions and waste management.

EGA was the first Middle East-headquartered company to join the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, back in 2017. EGA’s Al Taweelah site was certified to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s Performance Standard in 2019, with EGA’s site in Jebel Ali achieving certification in 2021. EGA’s Al Taweelah site was re-certified in 2022.

GAC began production in 2019, following a $1.4 billion investment by EGA, the largest in a greenfield mining project in Guinea in more than four decades. In 2022, EGA exported 14 million wet tonnes of bauxite from GAC, making EGA one of the largest merchant suppliers of the mineral in the world. Some GAC bauxite is shipped to the UAE for use in EGA’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery.

GAC operates a 690-square kilometre mining concession, located in the northwest of Guinea. Once mined, bauxite is transported to GAC’s port at Kamsar by train using shared rail infrastructure. GAC’s port has some of the largest mining equipment ever installed in Africa. The stacker/reclaimer at Kamsar is 125 metres long - longer than a soccer field - 25 metres tall, and weighs 1,300 tonnes.

The ASI’s certification and summary audit report can be downloaded at this link: https://aluminium-stewardship.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ASI-Summary-Audit-Report-Guinea-Alumina-Corporation-SA-Certificate-262-PS.pdf

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Contacts at EGA:
Simon Buerk
sbuerk@ega.ae 

About EGA

Since 1975, when it was founded as Dubai Aluminium by His Highness Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Global Aluminium has been innovating aluminium to make modern life possible.

Today EGA is the world’s biggest ‘premium aluminium’ producer and the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside the oil and gas industry.

EGA is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is the largest company jointly owned by the two Emirates.

EGA is an integrated aluminium producer, with operations from bauxite mining to the production of cast primary aluminium. EGA operates aluminium smelters in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah, an alumina refinery in Al Taweelah and a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in the Republic of Guinea.

EGA’s aluminium is the second largest made-in-the UAE export after oil and gas. In 2022, EGA sold 2.72 million tonnes of cast metal. EGA is the only UAE producer and makes the UAE the fifth largest aluminium producing nation in the world.

EGA has more than 400 customers in over 50 countries. In 2022, value-added products accounted for 78 per cent of EGA’s cast metal sales.

EGA’s aluminium is primarily used in the construction, automotive, packaging, aerospace and electronics industries.

Around 10 per cent of EGA’s aluminium production is sold in the UAE to around 20 downstream aluminium companies that make products with EGA’s aluminium. The growing broader aluminium sector in the UAE supports almost 50,000 jobs. EGA itself employs around 6,500 of these people including more than 1,200 UAE Nationals.

EGA has focused on technology development for over 30 years. EGA has used its own technology for every smelter expansion since the 1990s and has retrofitted all its older production lines. In 2016 EGA became the first UAE industrial company to licence its core industrial process technology internationally.

As a corporate citizen of the UAE, EGA aspires in all its operations to be measured amongst the world’s leading metals and mining companies in meeting its environmental and social responsibilities. In 2017, EGA became the first Middle East headquartered company to join the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, a global programme to foster greater sustainability and transparency in the aluminium industry. In 2019, EGA’s Al Taweelah site became the first in the Middle East to receive certification from ASI for its sustainability practices and performance. EGA’s Jebel Ali site was certified in 2021. EGA’s bauxite mining subsidiary, Guinea Alumina Corporation, achieved the first ASI certification in Guinea in 2023. ASI certification is the aluminium industry’s internationally recognised standard for environmental and social performance and governance.

In 2021, EGA began production of CelestiAL solar aluminium, produced with solar power from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park on the outskirts of Dubai. EGA is the first company in the world to make aluminium commercially using the power of the sun. 

EGA was formed in 2014 through the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium.

EGA’s Jebel Ali aluminium smelter began production as DUBAL in 1979. At almost five square kilometres, this site is five times bigger than Dubai Mall.

EMAL started production in 2009 and its Al Taweelah aluminium smelter was the largest single-site aluminium smelter in the world when completed. EGA’s Al Taweelah site is five times bigger than Al Maryah Island at six square kilometres.

EGA has its own power stations at both sites, producing electricity to meet its needs. EGA’s electricity generation capacity is 6,474 megawatts, making EGA the third largest electricity generator in the UAE after the Dubai and Abu Dhabi utilities. EGA also produces water through desalination units at its power plants.

EGA began production at Al Taweelah alumina refinery in April 2019. EGA’s alumina refinery is the first in the UAE and only the second in the Middle East. The project reduces the UAE’s dependence on imported alumina and supplies over 45 per cent of EGA’s needs.

Bauxite exports from Guinea Alumina Corporation, EGA’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Guinea, began in August 2019. The GAC project was one of the largest greenfield investments in Guinea in over 40 years.

 For more information on EGA please visit www.ega.ae.