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.
  

