TORONTO, March 12 - Global Alumina Corporation today announced that negotiations to enter into the joint venture with an affiliate of BHP Billiton, Dubai Aluminium Company Limited ("DUBAL") and Mubadala Development Company PJSC ("Mubadala") to develop and operate the Company's alumina refinery project in the Republic of Guinea have been extended.
The joint venture partners, who are also lenders under the US$100 million Loan Facility Agreement, have agreed to extend from March 10, 2007 to March 17, 2007 the date within which to execute the joint venture agreements in order to facilitate resolution of this final issue. To date, the Company has drawn down an aggregate of US$48,699,681 under the Loan Facility Agreement.
The execution of the Loan Facility Agreement and the agreement to negotiate the proposed joint venture were announced on November 5, 2006. Extensions to the date by which the parties would conclude negotiations and execute the joint venture agreements under the Loan Facility Agreement were announced on November 30, 2006, December 29, 2006, January 12, 2007, February 16, 2007 and March 5, 2007.
BHP Billiton is world's largest diversified resources company and the world's sixth largest producer of primary aluminum, with a total operating capacity in excess of one million tonnes of aluminum, approximately 14 million tonnes of bauxite and four million tonnes of alumina per annum.
DUBAL is the owner of one of the largest single site aluminum smelters in the western world. DUBAL, which is wholly owned by the Dubai government, produces and exports primary aluminum products to more than 40 countries world-wide. DUBAL is also party to a subscription agreement with the Company dated August 10, 2005.
Mubadala Development Company is a principal investment company wholly owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi, with a mandate to establish new businesses and acquire (wholly or partly) existing businesses either in the UAE or abroad. Mubadala invests in a wide range of strategic sectors including energy, utilities, health, real estate, public-private partnerships, basic industries and services. The company's goal is to diversify and further develop the rapidly growing economy of Abu Dhabi, while achieving solid returns on commercially viable investments.
About Global Alumina:
Global Alumina Corporation is a company that intends to use the vast bauxite resources of Guinea to produce alumina for sale to the global aluminum industry. Global Alumina is positioned to be one of the largest companies focused solely on alumina production and sales, and offers an opportunity for socially responsible investing in a country that holds over one-third of the world's bauxite resources. Global Alumina is headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick with operations in Boke, Guinea and has administrative offices in New York, London, Montreal and Conakry, Guinea.
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