The Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) produces 42,000 metric tonnes of aluminium ingots from each of the remaining three pot lines a year.

Mr Seth Adjei, Production Director, who was speaking to members of the Energy Commission on Tuesday, said shipment of the ingots was made once a month.

The Commission, led by Nana Osei Bonsu II, Mamponghene, was on a day's visit to VALCO to acquaint itself with its activities.

Eleven per cent of the company's total aluminium production estimated at more than 20 million dollars is released to Ghana Minerals Commission annually,

thus saving Ghana foreign exchange that would otherwise have been used in importing it.

"This is why VALCO is the foundation of over 50 million dollars Aluminium Industry in Ghana," Mr Adjei said, adding that the Industry has about 100 dependent companies which, in turn, offer employment to thousands of Ghanaians.

He explained that aluminium is released in its molten stage to Aluworks Company, instead of giving them in ingots to roll for the Ghanaian market thereby saving energy.

VALCO, a major consumer of electric power has had to shut down some of its production pot lines anytime there is shortfall in the national energy supply.

Currently, two production lines are closed due to inadequacy of power supply.

The Company said it would cost about 12 million dollars to revive a pot line of 100 cells that had been closed.

Mr Adjei said it would cost one billion dollars to set up a refinery in Ghana to convert bauxite ore into alumina, in an apparent explanation to why the company imports alumina from Jamaica to feed the plant.

He said, even though, a number of investors had expressed interest in exploring the use of the abundant bauxite at Kibi in the Eastern Region and Nyinahin in Ashanti, "they leave and return no more because of the huge foreign exchange cost involved."

Mr Ron Helton, Managing Director of VALCO, said the company had exercised its contractual right since 1994 and had extended its power contract with Ghana for a further 20 years, effective 1997.

He said out of 1,117 workers on VALCO's pay roll, only eleven of them are expatriates adding; "all our engineers are the products of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi".

Mr Helton said the company had a high calibre of human resource that had contributed greatly to its increased production, "and this has come about because of training and development of employees".