FIRST Bauxite Corporation (FBX) has commenced construction of the Bonasika Bauxite Project under its subsidiary–Guyana Industrial Minerals Inc –the Department of Public Information (DPI) said Thursday.

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, and junior Minister Simona Broomes, along with President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the First Bauxite Corporation, Alan Roughead, announced the project’s start Thursday at the Marriott Hotel, Kingston. Roughead disclosed that construction has started at the project’s site in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region.

“It will involve the expenditure of US$40-50M and upon completion, we will employ 250 people of which 95 per cent will be Guyanese national,” he said. The construction is expected to last some 18 months.

Meanwhile, Minister Trotman said the company’s investment in the country is appreciated.
“We wish you well, the government of Guyana truly congratulates all of you for your vision and for your stick-to-it-iveness … to this project,” Minister Trotman said.
Touting the mineral’s high quality, Minister Broomes said “the bauxite that will be mined at Bonasika is one of the best in the world and it is here in Guyana. Research has proven… I was advised yesterday, that this mineral found here is nowhere else in the world.”
FBX started feasibility work on the Bonasika Project in 2008. It also conducted two major production trials in 2015. Production at Bonasika is scheduled to begin at the end of 2019.