Guinea: Bauxite mining boosted by financing deals

A financing package for Alufer Mining’s Bel Air bauxite project has come as a welcome boost for a sector overshadowed by the Simandou affair and the aftermath of the 2014 Ebola crisis. Alufer has raised $90m of convertible debt and $35m of equity from a consortium of Resource Capital Funds, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Orion Mine Finance and existing shareholders, as well as $80m of senior debt from Orion. The funds will be used to develop the Bel Air bauxite mine through to first commercial production.