BEIJING – China’s Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong attended the commissioning ceremony of the Simandou iron ore mine project in Guinea this week, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported on Nov 12.
With annual production capacity expected at 120 million tonnes, the 75 per cent Chinese-owned project in the West African nation is set to be the world’s largest mine for the highest grade of iron ore, key to the green transition in the global steel value chain.
The Chinese vice-premier called the project a product of nearly 70 years of friendship and cooperation between China and Guinea and Africa, adding that it would contribute to Guinea’s economic development and the implementation of its Simandou 2040 strategy, Xinhua said.
The authorities in Guinea had officially launched production at Simandou on Nov 11 at a ceremony attended by the head of Guinea’s junta, General Mamady Doumbouya, south of Conakry at the port of Morebaya, through which the ore will be shipped.
Gen Doumbouya, who came to power in a 2021 coup, declared the day a public holiday, a sign of the importance the authorities have attached to the mine.
Of the four Simandou mining deposits, two are being developed by Chinese-Singaporean group Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) and the other two by SimFer, a consortium owned by Rio Tinto and Chinese giant Chinalco.
Simandou’s ore, grading 65 per cent iron, targets the premium segment used for less carbon-intensive green steel.
The project will ideally provide a stream of much-needed revenue for Guinea and has already resulted in the construction of infrastructure that could help diversify the economy.
Industrial partners have spent approximately US$20 billion (S$26 billion) building more than 650km of railways and a massive port.
The project also represents several thousand direct jobs for those in the West African country.
Baowu’s chairman Hu Wangming said the project would provide green raw materials for the steel industry in China and globally, and would add momentum to Guinea’s development, according to an article published on the company’s social media account on Nov 11. REUTERS, AFP
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