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REGIONAL ROUNDUP AFRICA

Fortescue bids on West African play

ustralia’s Fortescue Metals Group posit after chairman Andrew Forrest was
ALtd has submitted a bid to develop pictured on social media among a group Guinea and Liberia signed a deal to
two blocks in the giant Simandou iron ore of potential investors in a Liberian rail line. allow several mines in Guinea, includ-
deposit in Guinea. Reuters reported last Guinea has struggled for decades to ing the giant Nimba iron ore project, to
month that Fortescue and Guinea’s big- develop the Simandou deposit which is export through Liberia, officials from
gest bauxite exporter SMB-Winning were among the world’s biggest and contains the West African countries said.
the last two bidders in the running for the billions of tonnes of high-grade iron ore, The logistics of transporting tonnes of
rights to develop the two blocks. increasingly in demand as steel mills try raw materials to port from mining sites in
A Guinea government commission to lower carbon emissions. remote parts of Guinea has been a major
in charge of the international tender for Simandou has been mired in protract- hurdle for prospective developers of the
Simandou blocks 1 and 2 should come ed legal disputes, while the high cost of country’s vast mineral wealth.
to a final decision in around a month, infrastructure to transport the ore out of The agreement, which builds on an initial
sources close to the commission said. the remote south eastern corner of Guin- MoU signed six years ago, is a victory for
“Consistent with our active business ea has also put a dampener on potential US-Canadian investor Robert Friedland’s
development programme, Fortescue is developers’ enthusiasm. HPX, which last month acquired Nimba, a
interested in global opportunities in iron The Government insists that ore from high-grade deposit in southeast Guinea.
ore and other commodities which align Simandou must be exported through
with our strategy and expertise,” Fortes- Guinea, requiring the developer to build a “The mining projects in question are near
cue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines 650km railway to Guinea’s coast as well the border with Liberia and cannot be
said in an emailed statement to Reuters. as a deep-water port, taking the overall profitable if they export through Guinea’s
“Following the release of information cost of developing the deposit to an esti- coast,” Guinea’s Mines Minister Abdoulaye
at a public meeting held in Guinea last mated $US23 billion. Magassouba told Reuters.
week, Fortescue confirms that it is partic- Simandou blocks 3 and 4 are owned A graphite project owned by SRG Mining
ipating in the tender for Simandou Blocks by a JV of Rio Tinto Ltd, China Aluminium and a Zali Mining project would also be
1 and 2. Details of Fortescue’s bid are Corp (Chinalco), and the Guinean Gov- able to export through Liberia under the
confidential and there is no guarantee ernment. deal, Magassouba said.
that any bid submitted will be successful.” The authorisation to export via Liberia
Speculation emerged in July that – Melanie Burton, Reuters applies to the first 5mt produced at the
Fortescue may be interested in the de- mines, Magassouba said, beyond which
the Government will evaluate the feasibil-
ity of exporting via a 650km railway to the
Guinean coast.
The “Transguineen” railway is to be built
by the eventual owner of the much larger
Simandou iron ore project, which the
Government insists must export through a
Guinean port. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd
and SMB-Winning have bid to develop the
mine.
Zogota, a nearby iron ore deposit owned
by former Xstrata boss Mick Davis’ Niron
Metals, has already negotiated an agree-
ment to export through Liberia.
But Nimba and Zogota still need to reach
agreements with Germany’s ArcelorMittal,
the sole rail concession holder in Liberia,
to allow them to use its infrastructure.
ArcelorMittal declined to provide an im-
mediate comment.
– Saliou Samb and Helen Reid, Reuters

Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines with
chairman andrew Forrest breaking ground at
their new West australian iron ore project with
the State’s premier Mark McGowan. Gaines
and Forrest maybe looking to do the same
at Simandou

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