A Chinese company by name Tanyun Manganese Industry Group (TMI) is expected to commence manganese mining operations in Nsuta in the Western Region of Ghana.
This is after the company has successfully acquired the majority shares in the in the Ghana Manganese Company Ltd (GMC).
Though the terms of the acquisition is not made public, the Chinese company is expected to construct the a bauxite refinery at Nsuta in the Western Region.
According to reports, the refinery should cost $450 million and it a collaboration between GMC and Tanyun Manganese Industry Group (TMI), a Chinese company.
The contract details are yet to be brought before stakeholders for scrutiny.
Already, feasibility studies have been completed, paving the way for the first phase of the refinery project to commence before the end of the year.
The Vice-President of TMI, Xu Libin, who disclosed this, said the green-field project was expected to be completed and operationalised within 12 months.
He made this known in Tianjin, China, last Friday when the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, held bilateral talks with some Chinese companies with investments in Ghana’s mining industry at the 25th China Mining Conference.
The TMI delegation at the bilateral talks included the Managing Director of the GMC, Jurgen Eijgendaal.
The Ghanaian team included the Chairman of the Minerals Commission Board, Barbara Oteng-Gyasi; the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission, Martin Ayisi; the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, Samuel Atta Akyea, and the Technical Advisor on Mines to the Minister, Benjamin Aryee.
Prospects
Mr Libin explained that the decision to set up the refinery was to add value to manganese instead of exporting it in its raw form as has been over the decades.
In terms of its economic value, he said the refinery had an average annual sales revenue of about $1.3 billion, excluding tax, and an annual pre-tax income of $174.4 million.