Rio Tinto ordered equipment for the Simandou project from China’s XCMG

Chinese mining equipment producer XCMG and mining giant Rio Tinto have signed a framework agreement on global cooperation. This is reported by International Mining.

At the same time, XCMG and SimFer Company, a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Chinalco Group, signed the terms of reference for the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.

XCMG will provide a full set of major mining equipment, including dozens of 230-ton diesel-electric XDE240 quarry dump trucks, as well as 350 and 550 horsepower large quarry graders. The total contract value is about 800 million yuan ($110 million).

In 2014, XCMG and Rio Tinto started a cooperation related to the production of hydraulic cylinders of the Chinese company. Since then, the parties have jointly developed the GR2605 motor grader and the XC9 series wheel loader. In 2021, the GR5505 grader was successfully delivered to Rio Tinto.

As GMK Center reported earlier, one of the world’s largest iron ore deposits, Simandou in Guinea, West Africa, was 30-40% ready for launch in May of this year. The first volumes of raw materials are planned to be extracted already in 2025.

In April, Simandou shareholders signed an agreement to finance the iron ore project in the amount of $15 billion. The funds will be used to develop railway and port infrastructure, which will be built by Compagnie du Trans-Guinéen, a joint venture 15% owned by the Guinean government and 42.5% by the Rio group. Tinto along with Chinese investors and Winning Consortium Simandou (financed by China).