Simandou
Simandou is a world-class iron ore mining project Rio Tinto is developing with its partners in south-eastern Guinea in West Africa.
The concession licence-holder and project company is Simfer S.A, which is currently owned 95% by Rio Tinto and 5% by International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank.
In 2010 we signed an agreement with Chalco, the Chinese state-owned aluminium producer, to establish a joint venture covering the development and operation of Simandou. In 2011, the Government of Guinea and Simfer S.A signed a Settlement Agreement confirming Simfer S.A's title to a southern concession of Simandou. The Settlement Agreement provides the Government of Guinea with the right to take a stake of up to 35% in Simfer S.A and a 51% stake in a special purpose vehicle to build, own and operate the Project infrastructure (rail and port).
The Simandou project is planned to comprise three principal components:
- A 95 million tonnes per year capacity iron ore mine in the Simandou Range in south-eastern Guinea,
- A Trans-Guinean railway of approximately 650 km to transport the ore from the mining concession to the Guinean coast, and
- A new deepwater port currently planned to be located about 60 km in south of Conakry, in the Forécariah prefecture.
We expect a total investment of more than US$10 billion to bring the mine and associated infrastructure on stream with the first shipment of iron ore by mid-2015. We have invested in the order of US$ 1.5 billion to date.
Simandou will be the largest integrated iron ore mine and infrastructure project ever developed in Africa and will generate sustainable social and economic gains for Guinea. Thousands of jobs will be created during construction phase. Once operational the mine will have 4,000 full time employees. We currently have over 1,800 people working on the project, 90 percent of whom are Guinean.
