Nimba Mining Company has signed its first mining convention with the Guinean state. The agreement was signed on 3 August 2026 in Conakry, according to Financial Afrik. It arrives almost exactly a year after the company was created by presidential decree.
The convention sets out the fiscal, customs, environmental and social rules for Nimba’s operations. It covers the full chain, from extraction at the Tinguilinta bauxite mine to export through the port of Kamsar. Officials call it the first such agreement in Guinea to bind together every stage of a mining operation.
The ceremony was chaired by Djiba Diakité, minister director of the presidential cabinet and head of the Simandou Strategic Committee, according to Guinée Quotidien. He was joined by General Amara Camara, secretary general minister of the presidency. Senior figures from the mining and foreign affairs ministries also attended.
Nimba Mining Company was born out of a dispute. Guinea’s government withdrew a bauxite concession from Emirates Global Aluminium in July 2025, as reported by Discovery Alert. The government cited the firm’s failure to build a promised alumina refinery on Guinean soil. Weeks later, the state incorporated Nimba Mining Company and kept full ownership for itself.
Foreign Affairs Minister Morissanda Kouyaté used the ceremony to recount the diplomatic process behind the split, Lerenifleur224 reported. That process paved the way for the new company’s creation. Mines Minister Bouna Sylla said the company had already exported its first bauxite by 5 November 2025, just months after taking over the assets.
The company’s first year has been busy. Nimba Mining Company revived the Tinguilinta mine and restored the 92 kilometre rail corridor to the coast, according to Ecofinance Guinée. It also brought Kamsar’s port infrastructure back into service. Guinean staff made up 98 per cent of the workforce doing this work.
More than four million tonnes of bauxite have left the country so far this year. No workplace accidents were recorded during that push, the company says. Management is now targeting 10 million tonnes of production this year. That figure should rise to 12 million tonnes annually from 2027.
The Company has launched feasibility studies for an alumina refinery too. The plant would have capacity for 1.2 million tonnes a year, Mining Weekly reported. The goal is to keep more processing value inside Guinea, rather than shipping raw ore abroad.
The plan fits into Simandou 2040, the government’s long term minerals strategy. Guinea holds the world’s largest bauxite reserves. Yet most of the profit from turning that ore into alumina and aluminium has historically gone to plants in China, Australia and the Gulf. Chalco agreed in May 2026 to build a one billion dollar alumina plant in Guinea, a sign that outside investors are starting to back local processing.
President Mamadi Doumbouya has framed the convention as a step toward resource sovereignty. He argues that Guinea should manage and sell its own minerals directly on international markets. Nimba Mining Company’s chief executive, Patrice L’Huillier, said the convention gives the firm clear legal footing to invest for the long term.
Nimba Mining Company has also begun exploring partnerships beyond bauxite. It signed a memorandum of understanding with Resolute Mining on possible gold projects in Guinea, according to the company’s own website. That deal hints at wider ambitions in the years ahead.
