BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s Vice Premier Liu Guozhong attended the commissioning ceremony of the Simandou iron ore mine project in Guinea this week, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
With annual production capacity expected at 120 million metric tons, the 75% Chinese-owned project in the West African nation is set to be the world’s largest mine for the highest grade of iron ore, key to the green transition in the global steel value chain.
The Chinese vice premier called the project a product of nearly 70 years of friendship and cooperation between China and Guinea and Africa, adding that it would contribute to Guinea’s economic development and the implementation of its “Simandou 2040” strategy, Xinhua said.
Two of Simandou’s four mining blocks are controlled by a Singapore-Chinese consortium called Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), and the rest by Rio Tinto SimFer, a joint venture of global mining giant Rio Tinto, Chalco Iron Ore Holdings and the government of Guinea.
State-owned China Baowu Steel Group, the world’s largest steelmaker by output, is also a key shareholder, holding shares in WCS and an indirect ownership in Rio Tinto SimFer.
Simandou’s ore, grading 65% iron, targets the premium segment used for less carbon-intensive green steel.
Baowu’s chairman Hu Wangming said the project would provide green raw materials for the steel industry in China and globally, and would add momentum to Guinea’s development, according to an article published on the company’s social media account on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroomEditing by Louise Heavens and Gareth Jones)
