The SMB-Winning consortium announces its partnership with Louis Berger, a global engineering consultancy, to strengthen environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs) that will enable it to update and revitalize its environmental and social management plan (ESMP) ). The purpose of the ESMP is to frame the work related to mining activities in the SMB permits in order to identify the additional mitigation measures needed to better manage environmental impacts and to maximize the safeguarding of biodiversity and spillover effects. beneficial for the communities. Louis Berger will also develop a plan of additional priority measures and will assist SMB-Winning in the implementation of a real environmental management system (EMS) meeting its obligations of Sustainable Development.
Holding a quarter of the world’s known reserves of bauxite, Guinea rose in 2017 from 7th to 3rd place in the countries producing this ore. The first imperative for the Guinean State as for the mining sector is to develop a virtuous mining industry, for the benefit of local populations and in respect of the environment. The second challenge is the creation of a local processing industry that will create more jobs and national added value. It is under these conditions that the mining sector can have a ripple effect and link the Guinean economy in a broad sense and generate concrete benefits for the population.
In particular, the ESMP should reflect all the commitments of the SMB to the environment and communities. It specifies the risks related to the exploitation work and proposes a planning of the procedures and means of implementation to manage these risks. The ESMP ensures compliance with these measures, identifies the means of implementation, determines the implementation schedule and defines the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders.
“SMB-Winning places primary importance on the local spin-offs of mining, as evidenced by the implementation of a demanding CSR policy from the very beginning of our operations in Guinea,” says Fréderic Bouzigues, Managing Director of SMB-Winning. This CSR policy includes, in particular, job creation, training, the environment and community development. The key to sustainability in the mining sector is to take into account social and environmental issues at each stage of development and the legal and regulatory compliance required for regular governance. This partnership based on a one-year contract with Louis Berger will allow us to benefit from their expertise on these different aspects. ”
SMB-Winning is a major player in the global bauxite sector and participates heavily in the economic and social development of Guinea. Its total contribution to the Guinean economy is estimated at US $ 400 million for the year 2017, an amount that covers wages, payments to suppliers and subcontractors, customs duties, taxes on products. imported and on the extraction and export of ore, and tax contributions. Today, SMB-Winning has created more than 5,500 direct jobs and 50,000 indirect jobs.
Two and a half years after the exploitation of its deposit, the production of SMB-Winning increased from 12 to 31 million tons between 2016 and 2017. In order to develop the transformation of bauxite on the spot, SMB-Winning announced in December 2017, an investment of US $ 3 billion (€ 2.4 billion) for the construction of an alumina refinery in the Boké Economic Zone and a railway line to transport bauxite to the port once sufficient captive reserves are available.
About the SMB-Winning consortium
Founded in 2014, the SMB-Winning Consortium brings together three global partners in the field of bauxite mining, production and transportation: Singapore’s Winning Shipping Ltd, a leading Asian shipowner; UMS, a transport and logistics company present in Guinea for more than 20 years; Shandong Weiqiao, a leading Chinese aluminum company with 160,000 employees and annual sales of US $ 45 billion. The State of Guinea, partner and member of the consortium, is a shareholder of 10%. Since its inception, SMB-Winning has invested more than US $ 1 billion in extractive activities in the Boké region. The consortium, which directly employs more than 5,500 people, also built and manages two river terminals.
For more information, visit smb-guinee.com
