Canadian mining investor Robert Friedland may enter into an agreement to take over Nimba iron ore deposit in Guinea. Although a final agreement is still to be hammered, talks are at an advanced stage. The BHP group, Newmont and Areva are the present owners of the iron mine. So far, they could not start the operations. Guinea is endowed with some of the world’s richest iron ore deposits. Simandou mine is one among them. What that held back the present owners were heavy investments, creation of infrastructure, such as building railway lines from the mine mouth to the loading points for exports etc. Investments on these heads would entail huge cost, which the existing partners can ill-afford.
