Rio Tinto ready to build Simandou after almost 30 years of setbacks
Simandou has faced delays due to legal disputes, political changes, and the challenges of building a 600 km rail and port infrastructure.
South Africa’s biggest opposition party said the country’s mines minister and state power utility “forced” Glencore Plc to sell its Optimum coal operation to a company controlled by the Gupta family, friends of President Jacob Zuma.
Mines Minister Mosebenzi Zwane met Glencore officials in Switzerland ahead of the sale of Optimum to the Gupta’s Tegeta Exploration & Resources in December, the ministry said in a Feb. 1 statement. Johannesburg’s Sunday Times newspaper reported that a delegation representing the Gupta family was there at the same time.
Optimum was placed in business rescue proceedings, a form of bankruptcy, in August after Glencore said its contract to supply coal to power company Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. was unviable, leading to the operation’s sale to Tegeta for 2.15 billion rand ($133 million).
