Yves Occello -Guinea News

CHINA/GUINEA : iB2's experts in Guinean bauxite move forward with alumina plans in China (africaintelligence.com)

With former Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon as chair of the board, iB2 will soon begin technical studies for the construction of an alumina plant in China's Shanxi province. The French company, managed by Yves Occello, has two founders of the company AMR, which is active in Guinea, on its board.

Covid-19 willing, early this year French iB2 will begin engineering work on its first alumina production unit in Shanxi province in northern China. The company will carry out studies for about a year before construction, scheduled to last twelve months, begins.

If everything goes as planned, the factory could begin production in late 2022 or in 2023. The unit will work with Chinese industrials to refine low-quality bauxite, widely available in the subsoil of many interior provinces, such as Shanxi, and turn it into alumina. For high-grade rock, China has to import, including from Guinea.

All roads lead to Guinea

iB2's management team is very familiar with Guinea. CEO, Yves Occello, has been advising Conakry's authorities and businesses about bauxite for years via his consultancy Amber Development, incidentally also iB2's majority shareholder. Since July, he has also served on the board of Lindian Resources, one of the country's bauxite explorers. In the past, he was also part of Sarmin Bauxite Guinée's management team, from which Lindian bought Lelouma (Africa Intelligence, 18/12/20). Yves Occello has also done consulting work with majors such as Rio Tinto Alcan and Pechiney.