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VN can develop bauxite industry on its own, assures ministry
Vietnam has enough indigenous capability to develop its bauxite industry and two pilot bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands would boost the region’s socioeconomic development, the Ministry of Industry said.
At a meeting in Hanoi on April 28 to discuss the ongoing projects in Lam Dong and Dak Nong Provinces, the ministry argued that bauxite mining has been carried on around the world for over 100 years and it is time for Vietnam to do the same. Bauxite is used to make aluminum.
The policy to develop bauxite mining is a sound policy by the Party and State, it said.
To allay fears that the two pilot projects will take over a lot of land in the Central Highlands, it pointed out that Tan Rai would need just 1.53 percent of Lam Dong’s total area and the Nhan Co project just 0.29 percent of Dak Nong Province.
No foreign or joint venture projects have approved to mine for bauxite, it said, adding the government has handed them over to the State-owned Vietnam Coal and Mineral Group.
Therefore, the rumors that China has closed some of its bauxite ores and would invest in bauxite projects here are untrue, it said.
The Vietnam Coal and Mineral Group said China’s Bayer technology would be used in these two projects, adding tests of the technology using samples taken from Tan Rai and Nhan Co have shown good results.
The projects’ impacts on the environment can be controlled and minimized, the ministry said.
Analysis of the red mud in bauxite ores in the Central Highlands indicate it contains no toxic or radioactive substances, it said.
VietNamNet, SGGP
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