Guinea: Rio Tinto set to launch $20bn ‘world’s biggest mining project’ after 27-year delay

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto is poised to commence a “world’s biggest” $20 billion mining project in the Republic of Guinea this year, following a 27-year wait marked by several legal and political setbacks, scandals and several false dawns.
The $20 billion iron ore, rail, and port development in a remote corner of West Africa is set to become the world’s largest and highest grade new iron ore mine that will add around 5% to global seaborne supply when it commences. Too expensive for any single miner to develop alone, the Simfer iron ore project is a collaboration involving Rio Tinto, the Guinean government, and at least seven other companies, including five from China, most notably Chinalco, the world’s largest aluminum producer. The Rio Tinto-Chinalco consortium will also reportedly fund the infrastructure development that encompasses a 552 km railway, a deep-water port and a 70km rail spur to connect to the main line.
UK-listed Rio Tinto first secured an exploration license in the Simandou mountains in south-eastern Guinea in 1997. Since then the country has undergone two coups d’état, and witnessed four heads of state and held three presidential elections. In 2024, once Rio Tinto’s state-owned Chinese partners were granted the last approval from Beijing, the Anglo-Australian miner intends to finally launch the most complex project in its history. “There is nothing else out there of this scale and size,” Rio Tinto’s Copper CEO Bold Baatar told the media. The first shipment of ore is expected in 2025, with an aim to reach full production of 60 million tonnes per year by 2028.