Rio said on Tuesday it now had all the regulatory approvals for the mine it jointly owns with Chinese state enterprises,having received the green light from the Guinean and Chinese governments.
Rio has previously said it was keenly focused on the environment,sustainability and governance (ESG) aspects of its Guinea operations after stepping up efforts to protect culturally and environmentally sensitive sites.
This follows the disastrous destruction of 45,000-year-old rock caves in Western Australia’s Juukan Gorge.
The deal between Rio and its Chinese partners to fund the mine is now unconditional. Simandou will become the world’s largest high-grade iron ore deposit when it hits first production in 2025,ramping up to 120 million tonnes a year at full capacity of which Rio will take 27 million tonnes annually.
The ore deposit in south-eastern Guinea is shared between a number of Chinese state-owned enterprises,a Singaporean company,Rio’s Simfer consortium and the Guinea government. Rio owns 53 per cent of Simfer alongside four Chinese state enterprises:Chinalco,Baowu,China Rail Construction Corporation and China Harbour Engineering Company.
Rio chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the Guinea project is “advancing at pace.” The mining giant will spend $9.2 billion to fund its share of the $17 billion 600 kilometre border-to-border rail track and deep water port on the Atlantic coast,needed to get the mine working and galvanise its iron ore output.