Guinea, RUSAL still in talks over pollution row

Guinea authorities and RUSAL executives were still in negotiations on Thursday after the West African nation sent security forces to halt alumina exports from Conakry port over pollution concerns, sources told Reuters.

A RUSAL official, who requested not to be named, told Reuters that the dispute stemmed from a "misunderstanding" and that a decision to normalise the situation at the Conakry port could come within hours.

RUSAL, the world's second largest aluminium producer, said there was no problem, and its 640,000 tonnes a year capacity Friguia refinery had not been affected.

"Our exports are continuing and work is proceeding normally," Yuri Grigoryev, the company's public relations director in Guinea, told Reuters.

Guinean officials insist that the company's activities, and that of a cement plant, are polluting the environment and that the export restrictions will remain in place until a solution is found.

Guinea's minister delegate for environment, Saramady Toure, told state radio that officials had warned RUSAL over the past month to take appropriate action to curb the pollution problem.