LOCATION: Guinea
RELATIONSHIP: The mine operator Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) is majority-owned by Halco Mining Inc. (51%), which is a consortium comprised of Alcoa (45%), Rio Tinto (45%) and Dadco Investments (10%).
IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Since it began operations in 1973, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée has been the subkect of a wide range or reports of physically and economically displaced local communities from vast areas of land, causing extreme economic hardship. Community members report that CBG has taken agricultural land without the consent of communities and mostly without providing compensation or replacement land which is also confirmed by the environmental and social monitoring reports commissioned by CBG’s lenders. CBG has neglected to rehabilitate much of the agricultural land it has strip mined. Mining and related infrastructure have polluted, destroyed and/or cut off communities’ access to rivers, streams and natural springs they traditionally relied on, limiting access to water to meet daily needs. The scarcity of water and land also prevent local people from maintaining their traditional economic activities. The limited livelihood restoration programs CBG contractors have initiated have largely failed.
In 2019, thirteen villages affected by CBG’s mining activities filed a
IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT AND BIODIVERSITY
The mine has caused irreversible destruction of large swaths of soil and pollution of water sources. Mining activity has also contributed to the loss of critical habitats, including for endangered chimpanzees. Local residents report an unprecedented decline, and in some cases the total extinction, of certain species of wildlife and medicinal plants.
RESOURCES
More information on the mine’s impacts is available here. Company responses to this profile can be found here.
Information on this project was submitted by Inclusive Development International and last updated on February 13th, 2025.