" On frontier of new ‘gold rush,’ quest for coveted EV metals yields misery"

Guinea — One of the poorest countries on Earth has become a crucial player in the world’s green-energy transition...The country’s northwestern region of Boké, at the epicenter of the bauxite fervor, has been transformed by a relentless stream of trucks and trains hauling the precious ore along newly built roads and tracks to coastal ports. But across Boké, thousands of villagers are paying a steep price...In interviews, women in northwestern Guinea said they now despair over paltry harvests, and fishermen, like 30-year-old Sylla, said they draw in hauls so small they can barely make a living. Villagers said the jobs they were promised by the Société Minière de Boké — a consortium including a subsidiary of the world’s largest aluminum producer, China Hongqiao Group — never materialized. The cash payments have proved to be deeply disappointing...

SMB General Manager Fréderic Bouzigues said in a statement that the company ensured “that the customary land rights of individuals and communities are recognized,” working through consultants to acquire land and regularly updating the price paid for it based on market surveys of the Boké region...

Three nonprofit groups, including IDI, brought a complaint in 2019 on behalf of 13 Guinean villages, alleging that CBG had violated their rights and failed to provide adequate compensation. The complaint was brought against the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank that provided CBG a $200 million loan in 2016 for its expansion; the case is now in mediation. CBG agreed in 2021 to stop dynamite blasting within 1,000 meters of villages and to change the type of blasting to lessen its impact. The mediation process has now turned to villagers’ concerns about water access and quality.