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Rio Tinto PLC and its Simfer joint venture has reached an agreement with the Guinean government and Winning Consortium Simandou for infrastructure development at the Simanoud iron-ore project. The Anglo-Australian miner said Simfer and WCS will work together to develop more than 600 kilometres of multi-use rail and port facilities to export iron ore from the Simandou project in southeast Guinea. The Simfer joint venture is owned by Rio Tinto, Chalco Iron Ore Holdings and the Guinean government. Chalco Iron Ore is a joint venture of Chinese state-owned enterprises. WCS is a consortium of Winning International Group and Weiqiao Aluminium, which is part of the China Hongqiao group. Simfer and WCS will share the infrastructure capacity and costs equally. Simfer is developing blocks three and four of the Simandou concession, while WCS is developing blocks one and two. Rio noted that China Baowu Steel Group may partner with WCS scope for blocks 1 and 2. ‘With these agreements we have reached an important milestone towards full sanction of the Simandou project, bringing together the complementary strengths and expertise of Rio Tinto and our partners, the government of Guinea and WCS for the infrastructure that will unlock this world-class resource,’ said Bold Baatar, Rio Tinto’s executive lead for Guinea and chief executive of Copper. Shares in Rio Tinto down 0.9% at 4,748.00 pence each in London on Friday morning. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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