Paranam is a town in the Para District,

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. Paranam was created in 1938 for a bauxite factory. In 1965, an aluminium smelter was added. The factories closed down in 2017.

History

There used to be a little hamlet called ''Klein Curaçao'' at the location. Paranam was created in 1938 when

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

began building a plant to support new mining areas along the Suriname River. Built on a former plantation, the facility was called Paranam after the

Para Para, or PARA, may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Paramount Global, traded as PARA on the Nasdaq stock exchange * Para Group, the former name of CT Corp * Para Rubber, now Skellerup, a New Zealand manufacturer * Para USA, formerly ...

and

Suriname River The Suriname River (Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is 480 km long and flows through the country Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where it i ...

s which border the mining concession areas. The Paranam mine began operations in 1941. Alcoa operates worldwide through a joint ventures, and the operation in Suriname is called The Suriname Aluminum Company (or Suralco). A market and theatre were built in town, however most workers remained in Paramaribo. In 1965, an aluminium smelter was opened in Paranam which operated on the electricity generated by the

Afobaka Dam The Afobaka Dam is an embankment dam with a main gravity dam section on the Suriname River near Afobaka in Brokopondo District of Suriname. The primary purpose of the dam is to generate hydroelectric power and it supports a 180 MW power stati ...

. The smelter converts bauxite to produce approximately 3,150 metric tons of alumina each day at this location. Paranam became the first location in the world with an integrated system where the earth was transformed into aluminium. In 2015, Alcoa announced that it was going to close the factories, because the local supplies were exhausted, and the factories could not handle the bauxite from the

Bakhuis Mountains The Bakhuis Mountains () are a mountain range in central Suriname, spanning 110 kilometres. The mountain range form of the Northern part of the Wilhelmina Mountains, and the mountains and its village were named after the Netherlands, Dutch explorer ...

. The factories closed down in 2017.

Harbour

Due to the deep water available on the Suriname River, Paranam is a port accessible to oceangoing ships. A pilot is required.

Notable people

* Hélène Ramjiawan (1952–2021), children's book author

References

{{Surinamese District Para Populated places in Para District Bauxite mining in Suriname