VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAR #1522/01 3371406
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021406Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7324
INFO RUEHPC/AMEMBASSY LOME 2177
RUEHCO/AMEMBASSY COTONOU 0817
RUEHOU/AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU 0558
RUEHAB/AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN 0814
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0790
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 1783
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0664

UNCLAS ACCRA 001522 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR USTR LAURIE-ANN AGAMA 
DEPT EEB FOR USITC BRENDAN LYNCH AND MICHAEL FERRANTINO 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EMIN EIND EINV KPRV GH
SUBJECT: GHANA MINING HIGHLIGHTS, NOVEMBER 2008 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: 
 
¶A. The Government of Ghana announced the privatization of its 
troubled state-owned aluminum company, along with accompanying 
foreign investments worth USD 4.5 billion.  The purported 
international buyers announced that no such deals existed. 
 
¶B. Ghana has benefitted from increased gold prices, while diamond 
production has shrunk.  Although mining operations have been subject 
to increased input costs and perennial social and political 
pressures, new investments in Ghana's mining sector continue. 
 
---------------------------- ---------------------- 
¶A. Privatization of VALCO: Chimera Deal, Fiasco Real 
--------------------- ------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) Parliament approved the partial privatization (70 percent 
sale) of the state-owned Volta Aluminum Company (VALCO) for USD 
175.5 million. (NOTE: VALCO was originally established by Kaiser and 
ALCOA in the 1960s.  Kaiser sold its 90 percent share to the GOG in 
2004, and ALCOA sold its 10 percent share in June of 2008.  (Rio 
Tinto mines bauxite in Ghana, but exports it for processing.)  While 
VALCO could potentially produce 200,000 tons of aluminum a year, it 
has been shuttered since March 2007 due to high power prices 
resulting from lower water levels at the Akosombo Dam.  Opposition 
politicians questioned both the terms of the sale, and the current 
government's apparent haste in concluding these deals during its 
'lame duck' period. 
¶3. (U) The alleged buyer of the 70 percent share was represented to 
parliament as 'International Aluminum Partners,' a consortium of 
Brazilian mining firm Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD, aka 'Vale') 
and Norway's Norsk Hydro.  Simulataneous with the sale, the 
Government announced that the consortium would invest USD 4.7 
billion for two new bauxite mines, a 2 million ton alumina refinery 
in Tema, upgraded rail links between Tema and Kumasi, and a new 1200 
Megawatt thermal generation plant at Tema. 
¶4. (U) Subsequent to the announcement of parliamentary approval for 
the sale, Reuters reported that both Vale and Norsk Hydro denied the 
existence of any agreement or commitments.  Norsk Hydro's spokesman 
is quoted denying the deal, saying, 'Norsk Hydro has no plans to 
make any investments in Ghana.'  Vale confirmed that they had 
commissioned a feasibility study from VALCO, but stated that Vale 
has no interest in taking part in the reopening process of the 
aluminum smelter.  The spokesman refused to speculate about the 
potential bauxite mine or alumina refinery project pending the 
completion of the study. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ghana's Minister of Trade, Industry & Private Sector 
Development, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, commented to the press that he was 
astonished by the firms' denials, and admonished local reporters 
that the deal was sensitive and that their reporting could cause the 
consortium to back out from the deal.  COMMENT: The Minister's 
feigned shock is likely a public face-saving gesture.  The GOG's 
inability to provide guarantees for steady electric power at low 
rates makes the sale of VALCO a difficult task, as underlined by the 
skittishness of the GOG's annointed saviors of its aluminum 
industry.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
------------------------- ------------------------- 
¶B. Extractive Industries: Diamonds Fall, Gold Rises 
------------------------- ------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) The relationship between mining companies and their host 
communities is often contentious in Ghana. Presently, Newmont Gold 
Ghana Limited (Newmont) is facing opposition from community members 
from the protected Ajenjua Bepo Forest Reserve at New Abriem in 
Ghana's Eastern Region.  Newmont's plans include open-pit operations 
on 70 hectares of the reserve.  Local community groups have 
expressed opposition and claim that the project will devastate the 
livelihoods of over 7,000 people due to environment degradation, 
while displacing 1,000 others.  Newmont is awaiting an approval from 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Ghana.  COMMENT: 
Embassy contacts at Newmont (PROTECT SOURCE) privately suggest these 
are standard pressure tactics to secure additional compensation and 
'community benefits' from the company.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶7. (U) On October 20, the GoG brought a motion to Parliament to 
develop a new mining lease agreement between the GoG and the 21 
mining companies currently operating in Ghana.  Since most of the 
mining leases were developed between 1994 and 2007 and were never 
formally ratified by Parliament, this development sets the stage for 
more political pressure and demands on mining companies, to be 
formulated by the next government. 
 
¶8. (U) Gold prices have risen on the world market; Ghana's national 
gold holdings as of September 18, 2008 were valued at USD 245.741 
million.  Ghana's diamond production in the first half of 2008 was 
395,236 karats, down 22 percent from the first half of 2007.  All 
mining operations in Ghana have been challenged by rising costs of 
electricity, fuel and other inputs. 
 
¶9. (U) Chirano Gold Mine, a Canadian mining firm in the Western 
Region of Ghana, will invest over USD 80 million to expand its plant 
processing capabilities and to commence an underground mining 
operation.  The project is expected to nearly double the company's 
annual production rates from 130,000 to 250,000 ounces per year. 
 
TEITELBAUM