Guinea's Giant Iron Ore Mine Begins Loading its First Shipment

 

The largest new iron ore mining project in years, Simandou, has just dispatched its first ore shipment. Simandou is a massive integrated mining, rail and seaport venture carried out by an international consortium, and is the biggest project of its kind ever built in Africa. It will handle up to 120 million tonnes of high grade ore per year, equal to about seven percent of total global export loadings. 

Simandou's mining lease area is split into two halves, one developed by a Rio Tinto-led consortium and the other led by Singaporean shipowner Winning International Group. The two groups jointly own a railway company, La Compagnie du TransGuinéen (CTG), which operates a 370-mile-long line connecting the inland deposit with the seaport at Morebaya. The rail logistics are the linchpin of the project, and were masterminded and built by Winning's CEO, Sun Xiushun. (The government of Guinea also holds a minority share in all of the operating consortia.)

Simandou is a gamechanger for the Capesize bulker fleet, which will serve its purpose-built ore loading port. With a total deposit size of about 3.3 billion tonnes, it should be shipping out its world-class ore for the next two to three decades.  

The project is also going to change the future of the corridor along the new rail route, where businesses and residents will now have ready access to transport. 

"Simandou is more than a mining project: it is the driving force behind a national transformation. This collective success reflects the vision of the Head of State and the determination of an entire nation to build a future of shared prosperity," said Guinean presidential chief of staff Djiba Diakite in a statement. 

The consortium is a team of rivals, and tensions have seeped in on occasion, according to the South China Morning Post. 18 Chinese-made locomotives were shipped to Conakry for the rail line, but were rejected by the Guinean government. The project development agreement required American locomotives only, so the Chinese shipment was reportedly sent back. Guinean officials say that they stipulated the highest-quality infrastructure and equipment in every category, and will stick precisely to the specifications of the contract - because the government of Guinea will own all of it in 35 years, when the leases expire.

"For that reason, we need robust facilities and high-quality products. We do not want to inherit something that requires excessive maintenance after 35 years," Bouna Sylla, Guinean mining minister, told the South China Morning Post.