UAE miner files $29bn claim against Guinea

UAE-based Axis International has reportedly filed a $29 billion claim against Guinea for revoking its bauxite mining rights.

The arbitration claim has been filed with the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, part of the World Bank, Bloomberg reported.

The lawsuit follows Guinea’s refusal to settle the dispute despite several attempts, according to Axis.

The company’s concession was among more than 50 licences cancelled in May by the military government run by President Mamadi Doumbouya for breaching the mining code.

Guinea has also seized a bauxite concession held by a unit of UAE’s Emirates Global Aluminium.

In August, EGA said that Guinea Alumina Corporation, its wholly owned subsidiary, will seek redress and has initiated legal action following the withdrawal of its bauxite concession in Guinea.

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According to Bloomberg, Axis has been operating a bauxite mine at Boffa, 150km northwest of the capital Conakry, since 2020.

“The purported justification for terminating the mining permit – that the mine was not operating, that it was underutilised – is not based on reality,” Gunjan Sharma, a lawyer representing Axis said.

Bauxite exports from the Guinea project hit 18 million tonnes in 2024, with proven reserves exceeding 800 million tonnes. 

The government has also seized mining equipment and frozen bank accounts of Axis, the report said.