CONAKRY, March 15 (Reuters) - Guinea, the world's top exporter of bauxite, expects revenues from its mining industry to fall by 16 percent from levels seen three years ago to around $124 million in 2010, according to a government document obtained by Reuters on Monday.
The West African nation, roiled by a coup in December 2008 and a subsequent political crisis, boasts around a third of all known bauxite reserves and is home to operations of major foreign mining companies Alcoa , Rio Tinto and RUSAL.
"Revenues will amount to 4,962.22 billion Guinean francs ($992.4 million), including 619.12 billion ($123.8 million) coming from the mining sector," according to the document from the Ministry of Finance.
A Ministry of Finance official, who asked not to be named, confirmed the figures.
Guinea received roughly $149 million from mining operations in 2007 -- the last year for which the data was available. The mining sector took a hit from the world economic crisis and domestic political upheaval in 2008 and 2009.
Bauxite is used to produce aluminium. Aluminium for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange is barely in positive territory so far this year, having risen by nearly 45 percent in 2009.
The country's largest bauxite mining firm, CBG -- a joint venture between Alcoa and Rio Tinto -- said last month that bauxite orders for 2010 are starting to recover and have already exceeded last year's total output by more than 10 percent.
Guinea's transitional government has set elections for June 27, widely seen as an opportunity for the impoverished nation to end its protracted political crisis.
(Reporting by Saliou Samb; editing by Richard Valdmanis and Amanda Cooper)
($1=5,000 Guinean francs)
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