Guinea’s vast Simandou mine on track to start delivering for Chinese investors
Locomotive deals worth more than half a billion dollars signal iron ore could start flowing to ports this year
US-based rail manufacturer Wabtec has secured deals worth US$525 million to supply the locomotives that will deliver the first shipments from the Simandou mountain range in the remote forests of southeastern Guinea to the ports.
Simandou, the world’s largest known undeveloped reserve of high-grade iron ore, is strategically important to China, which aims to diversify its suppliers from Australia and Brazil, that together account for about 80 per cent of seaborne exports.
Wabtec said it had won a US$248 million deal to supply locomotives to Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), which is developing blocks 1 and 2 of the concession, covering an estimated 1.8 billion tonnes of reserves with an iron content of more than 65.5 per cent.
WCS shareholders include Winning International Group of Singapore, China Shandong Weiqiao Group and the state-owned China Baowu Steel Group.
Baowu, China’s largest steelmaker, has interests in the southern and northern parts of Simandou. In June last year, Baowu Resources completed the acquisition of a 49 per cent share of WCS mine and infrastructure projects.