Mining Billionaire Ends Bitter Guinea Dispute After Months of Secret Negotiations

Israeli mining tycoon Beny Steinmetz is making a dramatic return to Guinea after the billionaire ended a bitter dispute with the West African country that brought his business empire to its knees.

The settlement, brokered by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, ends a seven-year-old dispute centered around one of the world’s richest mineral deposits that included a colorful list of characters from billionaire George Soros to former U.K. leader Tony Blair and mining heavyweights Rio Tinto Group and Vale SA.