Guinea’s Simandou iron ore project secures $15 billion financing

The Guinea government announced on Tuesday that shareholders involved in Simandou have signed $15 billion in financing agreements for the iron ore project.

The accords provide funds for rail and port infrastructure that Compagnie du Trans-Guinéen — a joint venture 15% owned by the Guinean government and 42.5% equally by a Rio Tinto group with Chinese investors and China-backed Winning Consortium Simandou — will build.

The signing occurred on April 2 after approvals came from the country’s transitional parliament and Chinese regulators, Guinea’s presidential office said in a statement on X.

“Simandou is no longer a dream but a reality,” Djiba Diakite, head of the strategic committee who led the talks, said in the statement. “There is no doubt that the project will be delivered on schedule by the end of December 2025.”

In February, Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said that the company’s board had given the green light to the project in West Africa.

Set to be the world’s largest and highest-grade new iron ore mine, the project will add around 5% to the global seaborne supply when it comes online.

The project has long been the subject of prolonged negotiations due to its complex ownership structure, delays caused by legal disputes, Guinea’s political changes and construction challenges.

Rio Tinto plans to invest $6.2 billion in Simandou.

(With files from Bloomberg)