FILE PHOTO: Mining operations can be seen at the Rio Tinto alumina refinery and bauxite mine in Gove, also known as Nhulunbuy, located 650 kilometers east of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory July 16, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo
"There's 324 million tons of bauxite there," Daniel Lachman, the chair of the presidential commission created to evaluate bids for the Bakhuis region, said in an interview.Investment, potentially also from bidders from other regions, would be significant, he said. "The bauxite we have is service level bauxite. You don't have to create a mine. You just dig from the top," he added.Those who pass muster will be short-listed and asked to provide detailed plans, including how they would power a project, ahead of a planned awarding of the concession by November 2024.