The Simandou iron ore mining project has been launched in Guinea

Operations have officially begun at the Simandou deposit in Guinea, Africa’s largest mining and infrastructure project. The launch ceremony in the port of Forecaria was attended by the country’s president, Mamady Doumbouya, along with partners Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), Rio Tinto, Chinalco, and Baowu, according to a Rio Tinto press release.

The project involves the construction of more than 600 km of multifunctional railway across the country, connecting the southeastern mining concessions with new port terminals on the Atlantic coast. Once commissioning is complete, SimFer and WCS will export up to 120 million tons of iron ore annually from their Simandou sites.

Trial and test ore shipments have already begun. Iron ore is transported from the mines to the port via the newly built railway, confirming the readiness of the entire logistics system. Once the complex is operational, all infrastructure assets will be transferred to the joint venture Compagnie du TransGuinéen (CTG), co-owned by the Government of Guinea (15%), SimFer and WCS (42.5% each).

Minister and Chief of Staff to the President Djiba Diakité emphasized that Simandou is a driver of national transformation and economic sovereignty.

Winning Consortium Chairman Sun Xiushun stressed that the launch was the result of many years of work and partnership. Rio Tinto CEO Simon Trott called it an exceptional achievement that opens up access to a new source of high-quality ore for low-carbon steel production.

The heads of Chinalco and Baowu noted that the implementation of Simandou is an important stage in the cooperation between China and Guinea, contributes to the development of local industry, and will provide the global market with a stable supply of high-quality iron ore.

As previously reported, the Simandou project in Guinea threatens to further change the dynamics of the iron ore market, which is already facing an uncertain future in terms of demand. Internal forecasts by some of the world’s largest mining companies indicate that the price of iron ore will fall to $85/t over the next three years as Simandou in Guinea reaches full production capacity within the next 2.5 years.