Vietnam bauxite decision may affect Alcoa project

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSHAN45994820090429

HANOI, April 29 (Reuters) – Vietnam said it would go ahead with a bauxite project in a $460 million contract with a Chinese company, but it will not sell stakes in such ventures to foreigners, throwing doubt over an Alcoa Inc (AA.N) deal.

Continue reading Alcoa, China, and Russia’s UC RUSAL

07/May/2009: A very interesting article about General Giap on BlogOsin (in Vietnamese):

http://www.blogosin.org/?p=881

15/Jan/2009: The legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap (now 97 year old) is fighting to halt risky bauxite projects

Source: Vietnam’s war hero Giap urges halt to bauxite mining plans

“I would like to propose to the prime minister to stop the implementation of bauxite exploitation” until its ecological impact is seriously studied by international experts, wrote the 97-year-old retired general.

Continue reading Bauxite VN: General Vo Nguyen Giap

02/May/2009: Vietnam now fights for China funds, source: WSJ, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124122437540679313.html.
… Mining poses a policy conundrum for Vietnam’s Communist leaders. The country has a large trade deficit with China — USD11 billion in 2008 — and is eager to increase exports such as minerals to its larger, more prosperous northern neighbor….
… “There are a lot of people in Vietnam who have benefited from economic liberalization, and have televisions and microwaves and so on, but they are also living on crowded and polluted streets and quality of life is becoming a bigger issue,” says Carlyle Thayer, a professor and Vietnam expert at the Australian Defense Academy in Canberra. “There is now a degree of technocratic expertise emerging to challenge the Communist Party.” …

29/Apr/2009: Vietnam gives green light to bauxite mines, source: http://en.huanqiu.com/www/english/world/Asia_pacific/2009-04/428395.html (a Chinese website) … Chinalco’s involvement in the project improves the local economy in Vietnam and creates local jobs, serving as evidence of mutual cooperation and benefit, said Wan Jun, a specialist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences….

15/Apr/2009, Thousands of Chinese workers in Tan Rai bauxite mine (in Vietnamese)
source:  http://www.tin247.com/ghi_chep_tren_cong_truong_boxit_tan_rai-1-21410295.html

Từ tháng 11/2008, những đợt công nhân Trung Quốc đầu tiên đã có mặt tại công trường bô-xít Tân Rai (huyện Bảo Lâm, Lâm Đồng). Bây giờ, mặt bằng cho dự án đã được san phẳng với diện tích hơn 50ha. Hàng ngàn người hối hả thi công trên nền đất đỏ lầy lội.

24/Apr/2009: 2,000 Chinese laborers may work on Central Highlands alumina project
source: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2009/04/843914/ The Chinese partner in the Nhan Co Aluminum Company is preparing a request to employ 2000 Chinese workers at the bauxite mining site in Dak Nong Province

25/Mar/2009: As Chinese Investment in Africa Drops, Hope Sinks, source: NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/world/africa/26chinaafrica.html?_r=1, Vietnamese translation in TuanVietNam: http://www.tuanvietnam.net/vn/tulieusuyngam/6612/index.aspx.An analysis of China investments in Africa may help understand their investments in Vietnam.

Feb/2009: Pressure from China and responsibility of Nong Duc Manh
source: http://www.diendan.org/viet-nam/richdocument.2009-02-11.8627167155/ (in Vietnamese)

Khai thác bauxite tại Tây Nguyên không chỉ là chủ trương của BCT VN, mà còn là chủ trương của Trung Quốc. Nó được ghi vào các tuyên bố chung Việt Nam – Trung Quốc từ năm 2001, và khi ông Hồ Cẩm Đào sang Việt Năm năm 2006, thông báo chung có ghi “… Khẩn trương bàn bạc và thực hiện các dự án lớn như bô-xít Đắc Nông …”. Ông Nông Đức Mạnh thuộc phe “thân Trung Quốc”.

22/Nov/2006: Vietnam, China in $1.6 bln bauxite/alumina deal, source: http://www.miningtopnews.com/vietnam-china-in-16-bln-bauxitealumina-deal.html. The Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group and Aluminium Corp. of China Ltd. , or Chalco, will invest around $1.6 billion in mining bauxite and refining alumina, they said on Wednesday. The two firms signed a framework agreement on the project last Thursday in Hanoi during a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao before he attended an Asia-Pacific summit.

Continue reading Bauxite VN: the Chinese factor

Source: TuanVietNam, 13/jan/2009, http://tuanvietnam.net/vn/thongtindachieu/5543/index.aspx

Cũng như dự án thép ở Vân Phong, chúng ta xin hãy tiếp tục nói “không” với các dự án bô-xít trên Tây Nguyên mang tính hủy diệt môi trường và không hiệu quả về mọi mặt. – Kiến nghị của các nhà khoa học Việt Nam.

Theo bài báo này, các dự án bauxite hiện tại có 10 vấn đề nghiệm trong sau: không cần thiết, không làm tăng ngân sách địa phương, không hiệu quả, cần đầu tư một hệ thống đường sắt không hiệu quả, không an toàn về môi trường sinh thái, không phù hợp với năng lực của TKV, không đảm bảo sinh kế công đồng của đồng bào Tây Nguyên, không phát triển bền vững, không minh bạch, không tuân thủ luật

Continue reading Bauxite VN: 10 reasons for stopping bauxite projects

Taken from various sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauxit

http://hindu.com/businessline/2000/07/19/stories/141960l1.htm

Bauxite is the most important aluminium ore. It consists largely of the minerals gibbsite Al(OH)3, boehmite γ-AlO(OH), and diaspore α-AlO(OH), together with the iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite and small amounts of anatase TiO2. It was named after the village Les Baux in southern France, where it was first . . . → Read More: Bauxite (aluminium ore): General Facts

The current new ambitious bauxite projects in Vietnam raise a lot of concern and controversy. I’m collecting here information about bauxite in general and the bauxite projects in Vietnam in particular, in order to gain a better understanding of the situation.

Continue reading Bauxite in Vietnam