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Simfer — the Guinean subsidiary of mining giant Rio Tinto — is leading development in the southern section of the site, while the Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) oversees the northern block.
Guinea has officially launched the long-awaited exploitation of the Simandou iron ore deposit, after considerable delays and missing the targets. The vast project is set to transform the country into one of the world’s top iron ore producers.
Simfer — the Guinean subsidiary of mining giant Rio Tinto — is leading development in the southern section of the site, while the Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) oversees the northern block.
After decades of chaos, corruption, criminal interference, expropriation, international intrigue and military coups, the world’s most significant new iron-ore project has made its first export of the ferrous ore.
A grand ceremony of those involved in making it happen took place on November 11, marking a major milestone in Guinea’s development, a key step towards its future potential. This first export is set to re-shape the global iron-ore market, giving the West African country significant influence and simultaneously reducing China’s dependence on two Australia-headquartered companies for its iron-ore supply. In 2024, CoalTrader.com noted that Australia accounted for 54% of global iron-ore exports in 2023, with China importing 73% of global supply.
The famous – and at times infamous – Simandou project began 27 years ago and has been at the heart of multiple scandals, including an expropriation and flipping attempt, more than one global corruption scandal and, some suspect, the motivation behind more than one military coup d’état. But with the first confirmed export of 9 850 t of Simandou’s high-grade iron-ore loaded from the port of Morebaya, Guinea confirmed its place in mining history and future for the global iron-ore market.
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Simandou’s development was repeatedly delayed as successive Guinean governments – military and civilian – insisted on the development of a 600 km multiuse railway to link the mines to the country’s westernmost coast, where a deep-water port also had to be built. Successive Guinean governments – for whom Liberia and Sierra Leone’s brutal civil wars of the 1990s were still too fresh a memory – resoundingly rejected a far shorter route running south to Simandou’s nearest port in Liberia.
