PARAMARIBO--The Suralco alumina refinery and bauxite mines in Suriname are closing indefinitely. New York-based aluminium producer Alcoa Corporation announced in a press release on Wednesday that it was working to reach the best possible solution that would enable Suriname to maintain its bauxite industry.
It was a sentimental moment when the refinery’s chimneys stopped bellowing smoke in November 2015. Owned for 40 per cent by Alcoa, Suralco had been in Suriname since 1916. With Suriname’s bauxite deposits ranked among the world’s richest, the Paranam bauxite refinery – that had a refining capacity of 2.2 million metric tons a year –, bauxite and alumina exports once accounted for 72 per cent of the country’s estimated export earnings of US $496.6 million. In the 1960s, Suralco built the US $150 million Afobaka Dam for the production of hydroelectric energy. This created the Brokopondo Reservoir, a 1,560km² lake in District Brokopondo, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. But in 2014 the company started gradually winding up refining operations; officials attributed this to “restricted bauxite supply, accompanied by negative world market scenarios.” Despite lengthy negotiations with government in an attempt to prevent the company from leaving, Suralco definitely shut down mining operations, turned off the refinery’s furnaces and closed its doors on November 30, 2015.
The closure took a toll of more than 700 jobs – full time Suralco jobs, as well as those of countless sub-contractors and a multitude of associated economic activities in Suriname. A skeleton staff was maintained at the refinery, but with the permanent closure they too are now out of work. Alcoa said that it would not close the hydroelectric facility, the refinery’s power source.
Businessman Dillip Sardjoe who chairs the commission that negotiates with Alcoa on behalf of Government, has meanwhile reported that the US multinational will hand over all bauxite concessions and infrastructure before the end of this month. He said the intention is now to position locals, so Suriname can take over the management of the hydroelectric facility by December 31, 2019.
Sardjoe said that negotiations are still ongoing regarding the rehabilitation of mined areas and the environmental clean-up. He specified that this will be handled according to US regulations, which means that Alcoa will bear the cost.
“We are working in partnership with the Government to reach the best possible solution that would enable Suriname to maintain its bauxite industry,” said Alcoa’s Chief Executive Officer Roy Harvey.
