Rusal Says Caustic-Soda Spill at Guinean Refinery Contained

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- United Co. Rusal, the Russian aluminum producer controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, said the 500 metric tons of caustic soda its Guinean alumina refinery accidentally spilt into the West African country’s waters have been controlled and haven’t affected the local area. “The company’s specialists acted effectively to contain the spill and the surrounding environment, including the local river, was not affected, which has been proven by a series of expert tests,” Rusal said in an e-mailed statement from Moscow today. Rusal’s commented after Guinea’s Environment Minister Papa Koly Kourouma gave the company five days to present a plan to reverse the damage done to waters in the west-coast region of Basse-Cote. Kourouma met with Rusal’s Friguia management, and they agreed to rehabilitate the area, he said yesterday in a phone interview from the capital, Conakry. The Guinean government under military leader Moussa Dadis Camara is scrutinizing mining deals made by the previous regime will be scrutinized. Camara took power on Dec. 23 after a coup in which Lansana Conte, who had ruled Guinea for 24 years, was killed. Guinea is the world’s biggest exporter of bauxite ore used to make alumina and, in turn, aluminum. In December, Guinea ordered Rio Tinto Group Plc, the world’s second-largest producer of iron ore, to hand over the northern half of the Simandou deposit to BSG Resources, a closely held company controlled by Israeli diamond investor Beny Steinmetz. On April 12, Camara asked the country’s justice ministry to consider legal action over Rusal’s 2006 purchase of Friguia, saying it was paid a fraction of the amount the company was valued at by consulting firms. Friguia has the capacity to produce 640,000 tons of alumina and 1.9 million tons of bauxite a year, according to Rusal’s Web site. To contact the reporter on this story: Alpha Camara in Conakry via Johannesburg on pmrichardson@bloomberg.net