An iron ore project with initial investments of $29 billion was presented in Congo

The initiative has not yet been backed up by an official technical and economic justification

In January, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo presented a plan for the Mines de Fer de la Grande Orientale (MIFOR) project, a future mining complex requiring an initial investment of $28.9 billion, according to L’agence Ecofin.

The MIFOR project aims to develop an iron ore deposit in the northeast of the country, with total resources estimated at 15-20 billion tons. The government plans a phased approach with an initial production capacity of 50 million tons per year, which will gradually increase to 300 million tons per year.

The initial investment of nearly $29 billion for the development of MIFOR covers both mining infrastructure and industrial processing facilities. It also includes the creation of a key logistics corridor combining heavy rail infrastructure, transportation on the Congo River, and access to the deep-water port of Banana.

The operational period is set at 25 years. It is expected that during this period, the project will generate total revenue exceeding $679 billion.

However, as L’agence Ecofin notes, the project parameters cited are not linked to any officially approved technical and economic justification. In addition, the use of the term “resources” rather than «operating reserves» raises questions. Details of how the necessary financing will be secured and whether potential partners will be involved also remain unclear, although the government document mentions the interest of international investors. There are also no published implementation deadlines.

It should be recalled that in December last year, the first commercial shipment of iron ore from the large new Simandou deposit in Guinea was sent to China, marking the beginning of a significant redistribution of global supplies of raw materials for steel production.