Russia’s Rusal agrees bauxite, alumina joint ventures to tap big deposit in Ghana

Russian aluminium producer Rusal said on Thursday it had reached an agreement with the state-owned Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) to jointly develop bauxite and alumina projects in Ghana.

The deal to tap one of West Africa’s richest deposits was announced during a summit between President Vladimir Putin and African leaders in Moscow. In a statement, Rusal said the projects would be implemented through two joint ventures in which it would hold majority stakes.

Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China, has not been targeted by Western sanctions related to the war in Ukraine. However, the company has been seeking to reduce its reliance on third-party suppliers of alumina, a key raw material for aluminium production, after losing around 40% of its supplies from Ukraine and Australia in 2022.

Rusal and GIADEC have agreed to develop bauxite mining operations in Ghana with annual output of up to five million tonnes and build an alumina refinery with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes, the Russian company said.

It said estimated resources in the area earmarked for development at the Nyinahin deposit in southwest Ghana exceed 100 million tonnes of bauxite.

Rusal already has extensive operations in Africa, including bauxite mines and alumina production assets in neighbouring Guinea. It produced 6.858 million tonnes of alumina in 2025, accounting for 4.7% of global output and 85% of its alumina needs.

Ghana last year cancelled a $1.2 billion lease agreement with local firm Rocksure International to seek a foreign partner to develop the Nyinahin deposit.

GIADEC Chief Executive Officer Reindorf Twumasi Ankrah was quoted in a statement published by Rusal as saying the new deal aligned with the company’s goal of establishing a fully integrated aluminium industry in Ghana that would allow for domestic processing of bauxite.

The projects would bring investment, create thousands of jobs and improve rail and port infrastructure, he said.

Credit: Reuters