Cameroon: CAMALCO Plans to Begin Bauxite Transport by Rail Soon

CAMALCO, the Cameroonian subsidiary of Australian mining company Canyon Resources, intends to begin transporting bauxite from the Minim Martap project to the Port of Douala by rail in the coming days, according to Cameroon’s Ministry of Transport. Seven locomotives acquired for the operation are currently undergoing testing, while additional wagons are expected to expand the fleet as mining activity develops.

The update was provided during the 48th extraordinary session of the Interministerial Committee for Railway Infrastructure (COMIFER), held in Yaoundé and chaired by Transport Minister Jean Ernest Masséna Ngallè Bibéhè.

“COMIFER noted the progress made, as well as the intention of the mining partner [CAMALCO] to begin transporting bauxite in the coming days,” Claude Misse Ntone, director of railway transport at the ministry, said after the meeting.

The official did not give a precise starting date or indicate whether the first movements would involve tests or commercial volumes. The announcement concerns the inland transport of ore and does not mean that maritime exports from Douala will begin at the same time.

CAMALCO is developing Minim Martap in Cameroon’s Adamawa Region. Bauxite from the mine is expected to travel along the existing railway network to Douala, where it will be stockpiled and loaded onto vessels for export.

In a project update issued on June 26, Canyon Resources said the seven locomotives had arrived in Cameroon and would undergo six to eight weeks of commissioning, testing and operator training. At the time, the company expected initial ore transport between its inland rail facility and the Port of Douala to begin during the third quarter of 2026.

The first phase of the project’s rail fleet also includes 160 wagons. Canyon said the first 60 were scheduled to arrive in Douala in mid-August, followed by another 100 before the end of the third quarter. Once operational, the seven locomotives and 160 wagons are expected to provide monthly transport capacity of approximately 35,000 wet metric tons.

Canyon plans to add 15 locomotives and 400 wagons during a second phase, bringing the fleet to 22 locomotives and 560 wagons. The expansion remains subject to the company securing an additional $160 million and is expected to increase monthly rail capacity to about 105,000 tons by early in the third quarter of 2027.

Several other components of the logistics chain must be completed before the first maritime shipment. They include an ore haulage road, an inland rail facility and dredging work at the port. Canyon said in June that these projects were scheduled for completion late in the third quarter, with the first shipment of bauxite from Douala targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.

That schedule is later than the end-of-September target reported by Business in Cameroon on June 18, before Canyon released its June 26 update. Trial mining is also expected to begin during the third quarter, subject to the completion of discussions with communities around the project.

Minim Martap contains an estimated 1.1 billion tons of mineral resources, including 144 million tons classified as ore reserves. Investment in rolling stock, railway infrastructure and port facilities has been estimated at CFA252.6 billion.

Beyond preparations for bauxite transport, COMIFER reviewed several projects intended to expand and modernize Cameroon’s railway network. These included the second five-year Railway Plan on the Douala-Yaoundé section, rehabilitation of the Belabo-Ngaoundéré line, the acquisition of passenger rolling stock and negotiations with Chad over the route of a proposed cross-border railway.