China plans to approve developing giant Simandou iron ore mine

Simandou is divided into four blocks, with blocks one and two controlled by a consortium backed by Chinese and Singaporean companies, while Rio Tinto Plc and Aluminum Corp. of China, known as Chinalco, own blocks three and four.

LONDON: China is close to giving the go-ahead for some of its biggest state-owned companies to develop the giant Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea, potentially paving the way for the project to be built after years of legal wrangling.

China’s state-owned assets supervision and administration commission, which oversees the biggest government-owned enterprises, is actively pushing forward with the project, the world’s biggest untapped iron ore deposit, according to people familiar with the plans who asked not to be identified as the talks are private.