GUINEA-ECONOMY-RESSOURCES-MINES

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MOUCTAR BAH This photo taken on August 3, 2012, in Fria, 160 kms north of Conakry, shows a view of an alumine extraction and processing factory, one of the most famous factories in Guinea, where a long strike and the departure of its Russian owner has caused an exodus of workers and a slow disintegration of the town's infrastructure and services. Fria was in the 1960s and 70s an up and coming mining city, with an 'Olympic' swimming pool, nightclubs, a hospital, and well-lit streets, but a crisis between workers and Russian managers at the factory led to a strike over wages in April and eventually to the closing of the alumine factory which was the lifeblood of the area. Local residents and union workers are now fighting to re-start work at the factory and to continue to develop the town. While the alumine factory in Fria was until recently one of the vibrant exemples of success in Guinea's mining sector, only part of the population profits from the country's large reserves of iron, diamands, bauxite, and alumine, as it is estimated that 55 % of the total population of 12 million Guineans lives in poverty. AFP PHOTO / CELLOU BINANI (Photo by CELLOU BINANI / AFP) (Photo by CELLOU BINANI/AFP via Getty Images)