China Gives Global Miners an African Headache
Beijing’s blessing for the Simandou project in Guinea would threaten Rio and the other companies that dominate iron-ore production.
The logistics of mining in Guinea aren’t easy.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
China is poised to let some of its biggest state-owned entities help develop a giant West African iron-ore deposit that’s been tantalizingly promising and painfully problematic for two decades. Whatever happens next, this watershed moment for the steelmaking commodity is bad news for big producers, particularly Rio Tinto Group.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission is actively pushing forward with the Simandou mine in Guinea, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The project may cost more than $20 billion.