Malawian contracting and consulting company Akatswiri Mineral Resources (Akatswiri) has concluded a feasibility study for a proposed $820mn aluminium production project in the southern African nation, Nyasa Times reports.
The study, the daily wrote on November 24, indicates that bauxite, the feedstock for aluminium production, occurs at two sites in a mountainous range south of the country at depths of between 10 and 15 metres and a thickness of between four and five metres.
The deposits are expected to yield around 580,000 tonnes of bauxite annually. The material would be processed into 100,000 tonnes of aluminium each year.
Akatswiri chairman, Hilton Banda commented:
“This is a project with huge potential to change the industrial landscape of our country. Aluminium is a key industrial metal, and we currently import a lot of it. We would prefer to raise the necessary resources locally so that Malawians can fully own this transformative project.”
However, a number of challenges must be overcome first including raising substantial capital investment and availability of reliable electricity supply for aluminium production, an energy-intensive process.
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