SURALCO BAUXITE REFINERY REOPENED
The 1.4 mln tonnes capacity bauxite
refinery at Paranam in Surinam, which closed at the end of
January after being sabotaged by anti-government rebels, has
now reopened, a spokesman for Dutch metals company Billiton
said.
    The refinery is run by Suralco, jointly owned by the U.S.
Company Alcoa and the Dutch company Billiton, which is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell.
    Production of alumina at the refinery is currently running
at around 3,000 tonnes a day and is expected to get back to
full capacity of 4,000 tonnes within a week, the Billiton
spokesman added.
    The refinery was forced to close at the end of January when
rebels cut the main power line.
    Earlier, the refinery had had to import some supplies of
bauxite, as rebel activity shut off supplies from Alcoa's mine
at Moengo in the east of the country.
    Billiton's mine at Onverdacht, between Paranam and the
capital Paramaribo, is still working but Moengo remains closed
and the refinery is continuing to import some bauxite, the
Billiton spokesman said.
 Reuter
