Ali Bongo Ondimba, president of the Gabonese Republic, and Patrick Buffet, chairperson & CEO of the ERAMET Group, inaugurated Moanda Metallurgical Complex in Moanda in the presence of civil servants, diplomats, members of the government and the large crowd in attendance.
The Moanda Metallurgical Complex is a facility for metallurgical processing ore, comprised of a manganese metal plant with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons and a silico-manganese plant designed to produce 65,000 tons per year.
Construction of Moanda Metallurgical Complex began in 2010. It was developed as a public-private partnership between the Gabonese State and the ERAMET Group. Developed in over a 50-hectare site, the construction of this industrial facility more than one thousand technicians and workers for a total of about 6 million person-hours.
Gabon is the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to have a facility technologically at par with ERAMET’s ore processing plants in the US, Europe and China. Moanda Metallurgical Complex, comprised of two plants using hydro- and pyrometallurgical techniques, will lead to new professions and training needs locally.