Bakhuys (also: Bakhuis ) is a village in the Kabalebo resort of the Sipaliwini District in Suriname . The village is located near the Bakhuis Mountains . Bakhuis is mainly known for its large bauxite mine which is exploited by Suralco. In 1995, the refinery had received a $ 120 million upgrade and extension. The village and mountain range have been named after Louis August Bakhuis [ nl ] who led a 1901 expedition into the area.
5-639: Bakhuys was part of the West Suriname Plan of the 1970s which was a large scale development plan for the Western part of Suriname and included a railway line from Bakhuys to Apoera . A scaled-down version was resurrected in the 1990s, but also failed to take-off. An unpaved road from Bakhuys to the Southern East-West Link was constructed. The Bakhuys Airstrip is located near the village. This Suriname location article
10-505: A harbour and an aluminium smelter at Apoera . The plan was the brainchild of former Surinamese Minister of Development Frank Essed . In 1963, Operation Grasshopper found bauxite deposits in the Bakhuis Mountains . Two years later, extensive explorations were conducted by Suralco [ nl ] and Billiton. After a commercial joint venture established by Reynolds Surinam Mines and Grassalco failed to take off,
15-474: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . West Suriname Plan The West Suriname Plan ( Dutch : West-Surinameplan ) was an economic development plan for the western part of Suriname . As originally conceived, it consists among others of the mining of bauxite in the Bakhuis Mountains , the building of a hydroelectric power plant on the Kabalebo River , and the construction of
20-668: The 1980 Surinamese coup d'état Dutch development funds were frozen, and the project was halted. Low bauxite market prices in the 1980s also led to doubts about the economic feasibility of the project. In the late 1990s, the West Suriname Plan was resurrected. On 6 January 2003, BHP Billiton , Suralco, and the Surinamese government signed two memorandum of understanding to investigate the possibility of developing bauxite mining in West Suriname. Talks between
25-505: The Surinamese government devised the West Suriname Plan to develop the region by the government. The Dutch government agreed to help execute the plan as part of the development subsidies to be given after Suriname would gain independence in 1975. Between 1976 and 1978, a railroad track was constructed between Apoera and the Bakhuis Mountains by Morrison–Knudsen as main contractor and local companies as sub contractors. After
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