Bauxite production has been suspended at Societe Miniere de Boké's mine in Guinea for the last 10 days due to a workers' walkout, Reuters reported May 14.

Some of the employees decided to down tools following the arrest of a union leader earlier in the month, said Frederic Bouzigues, the company's director general.

The company has already lost between 1 million and 1.2 million tonnes of scheduled bauxite output because of the strike, with losses running to US$1 million per day.

The bauxite producer is owned by Guinea, China's Winning Shipping Ltd., Shandong Weiqiao and UMS International Ltd.