Axis launches $28.9bn legal claim against Guinea after bauxite permit revocation

A United Arab Emirates-based mining company that says it is Guinea’s second-largest bauxite producer has launched a $28.9 billion legal claim against the West African nation, accusing the government of unlawfully stripping it of mining rights.

Axis International Ltd. has filed for arbitration at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, a World Bank-affiliated forum that handles disputes between investors and states. The company said it tried repeatedly to resolve the matter privately but received no response from Guinean authorities.

Guinea is the world’s leading exporter of bauxite, the ore refined into alumina, a key ingredient in aluminum production. Axis’s concession was one of more than 50 permits cancelled in May by the military government led by President Mamadi Doumbouya, which cited non-compliance with Guinea’s mining code.

The wave of cancellations also swept up the bauxite license held by a unit of Dubai’s Emirates Global Aluminium, after officials said the company failed to follow through on plans to build a refinery locally.

Axis rejects the government’s stated reasons for revoking its concession. The company says its subsidiary, Axis Minerals Resources, has been mining bauxite in Boffa, about 150 kilometers northwest of the capital Conakry, since 2020.

A lawyer representing Axis, Gunjan Sharma, said the official claim that the mine was not operating or was being underused does not reflect what is happening on the ground.

Government officials contacted for comment did not respond.

The dispute unfolds as Guinea’s political landscape remains dominated by the military leadership that took power in a 2021 coup. 

Doumbouya is expected to extend his rule following elections held Sunday, the first since the takeover, amid a fragmented opposition. The government has pointed to mining sector development as a central achievement, including progress on the Simandou iron ore project, which began exports earlier this year from one of the world’s largest iron ore deposits.

Axis said exports from its bauxite project reached 18 million tons in 2024 and that it has proven reserves exceeding 800 million tons. The company also alleges the government seized its equipment and froze its bank accounts.

Axis says it plans to argue before the tribunal that Guinea is responsible for the full damages tied to what it describes as knowingly unlawful actions.