First China ore shipment rewards Guinea coup leader’s push for Simandou alliance

The Simandou mountain range in southeastern Guinea, once a dense forest where exploration teams relied on GPS and helicopters to navigate, has yielded vast reserves of its sought-after high-grade iron ore after decades of delay.

Workers struggled to define the layout of the thick forest before clearing the trees and brush at the site set for the Simandou Iron Ore project, “as it was nothing but darkness”, according to Chris Aitchison, the managing director for Rio Tinto’s Simfer joint venture.

Rio Tinto and Chinese firms have spent more than US$20 billion to develop the ore and build a 650km (403-mile) railway line and port, making it one of the largest mining and infrastructure projects in Africa, an undertaking required to transport the ore from Simandou to Guinea’s coast for export.

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Major works for the railway and deep water port started in 2022, and the massive infrastructure – involving 206 bridges and four tunnels through challenging terrain – was built at an unprecedented speed.

This was made possible not only by the ambition of Rio Tinto and Chinese firms to secure the valuable iron ore, but by a forceful Guinean government’s military-like mandate, China’s logistical and engineering capacity enabling the rapid construction and massive financial muscle among the partners to break a crucial deadlock.

As the railway line was undergoing tests, the project reached a milestone with the first ore moved to the port by rail on November 11, followed by the first shipment of 200,000 tonnes of ore to China on December 2.

The launch of the project at Morebaya port on November 11 was attended by top Guinean officials as well as Chinese and regional African leaders.

In November, standing at the peak of the mountain rich in iron ore, Aitchison reflected on the scale of the transformation and the milestone reached.

South China Morning Post