BHP Billiton proposes $3bn DRC aluminium smelter

BHP BILLITON has signed an agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government to investigate the building of a $3bn, 800,000 tonne per annum aluminium smelter in that country. The smelter could be built in the Bas Congo region of the DRC, using 2000 mega watts of electricity from the proposed Inga 3 hydropower scheme, BHP Billiton said in a statement. "Of course, the development of the Inga 3 hydropower project and the aluminium smelter project will be demanding. However, we are fully prepared to work with the DRC government to ensure the success of these projects," BHP Billiton Southern Africa chairman Vincent Maphai said. Initial concept studies into Inga 3 and the smelter have been completed. "Work will now start on feasibility studies for both projects," Maphai said, adding BHP Billiton will fund the feasibility study into the hydropower scheme. BHP Billiton will pay $20m towards the study in exchange for power to its smelter, Xolani Mkhwanazi, president of BHP Billiton Aluminium Southern Africa, told the Moneyweb Power Hour. The timing on the smelter was subject to the bankable feasibility study into the projects. "It's all depends on the outcome of the feasibility study, which would be completed in 12 to 18 months, beyond that there is financing, and building the smelter, which should take about three years, but it all depends on the power station being built successfully," Mkhwanazi said. BHP Billiton has aluminium smelters in South Africa and in Mozambique, producing 1.3 million tonnes of metal a year.