Simandou iron ore mega-project begins operations

With Simandou, Africa’s largest integrated greenfield mining and infrastructure project is now operational. In the presence of the President of the Republic of Guinea, the project partners WCS, Baowu, Chinalco and Rio Tinto celebrated the start of operations on 11 November. With the Simandou mega-project, the West African country is emerging as a global player in high-quality direct-reduction-grade iron ore.

Simandou is being developed by two major consortia. Licence blocks 1 and 2 are being developed by the Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), with the China Baowu Group (Baosteel and Wuhan Iron and Steel) as the largest shareholder. The competitor, Simfer, is mining iron ore from the two southern blocks, 3 and 4. The British-Australian mining company Rio Tinto holds a majority stake in this consortium. The project involves the construction of a railway line approximately 670 kilometres long to the Atlantic Ocean, leading to the Morebaya port in Guinea – which is currently under construction – as well as port facilities for barges and transhipment vessels. Once commissioned and fully operational, this infrastructure will support the export of up to 120 million tonnes per year of mined iron ore by SimFer and WCS from their respective mining concessions in Simandou in the south-east of the country. According to Rio Tinto, testing and commissioning of the mine, railway and inland waterway port infrastructure are underway, with both WCS and SimFer having commenced the transport of iron ore from the mine to the port via the Trans-Guinean railway line.
Once operations are fully up and running at the end of 2025, all jointly developed infrastructure and vehicles will be transferred to and operated by the Compagnie du TransGuinéen (CTG), in which SimFer and WCS each hold a 42.5 per cent stake, whilst the Government of Guinea holds the remaining 15 per cent.

Simandou supplies high-quality DRI-grade iron ore

The Simandou project is more than just a mining project; it is regarded as a geopolitical move and a pivotal moment for global decarbonisation efforts. With the Simandou deposit in the south-east of the country, Guinea has an estimated two billion tonnes of iron ore. When the four mines in the area are operating at full capacity, production stands at 120 million tonnes per year.
Compared to the industry giants, the sheer volume of production may sound modest. Australia, by far the largest iron ore producer, produced approximately 960 million tonnes in 2023, with Brazil in second place at 440 million tonnes. However, Simandou is significant for the global decarbonisation of the steel industry not so much because of its potential output as because of the high quality of its iron ore. Its high purity allows the iron ore to be processed using CO₂-saving direct reduction rather than in conventional blast furnaces. For example, the Chinese steel giant Baosteel is building a direct reduction-based steelworks in Guangdong Province, which is to be supplied with iron ore from Simandou.
Hu Wangming, Chairman of the China Baowu Group, is certain: “The stable supply of high-quality iron ore resources from Simandou will form a solid foundation for low-carbon raw materials for the development of the Chinese steel industry and the global steel sector. We are firmly convinced that this exemplary collaboration will provide a sustainable boost to the economic and social development of Guinea, the host country of the project.”
Rio Tinto CEO Simon Trott is also confident: “We are developing an exceptional new source of high-quality iron ore, which is in demand from customers for the production of low-carbon steel, thereby expanding our world-class portfolio of iron ore mines in the Pilbara and Canada.”
Source: Rio Tinto, Business Insider Africa, GTAI