GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP):

A private Chinese company has bought a controlling interest in a major Guyanese bauxite mine, the South American nation's government says.

Bosai Minerals Group, a leading producer of calcined bauxite, bought Toronto-based IAMGold's stake in Omai Bauxite Mining Inc, which holds bauxite deposits in Linden, some 70 miles (112 kilometres) south of Georgetown.

Bosai, based in the western Chinese city of Chongqing, now controls 70 per cent of the company, while Guyana's government holds 30 per cent.

Key material

Calcined bauxite is a key material in aluminum used in aircraft, industrial construction and kitchen utensils.

IAMGold Corp, a Canadian gold producer, said in December that it had agreed to sell its interests in the Guyanese bauxite mine to Bosai for US$46 million (€35 million), and that the Chinese company agreed to assume US$18 million (€13.6 million) in third-party debt.

Norman McLean, a spokesman for IAMGold, said Wednesday that the Canadian firm "prefers to concentrate on gold mining. Shareholders were not happy with our involvement with bauxite."

Bauxite was Guyana's leading foreign exchange earner in the 1970s. It now ranks number four after sugar, gold and rice.

SOURCE: Financial Gleaner, February 16, 2007.